


They Moved Forward

by Harlecat



Series: They Moved Forward [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (abuse involves an OC and as of now are only discussed in two skippable chapters), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Dipper is trans!, Mentions of past abuse, Other, Pansexual Mabel Pines, Transgender Dipper, grown up twins, trans!Dipper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-27 05:39:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 59,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5035942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harlecat/pseuds/Harlecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel returns to Gravity Falls for the first time in years and ends up staying longer than intended. Her first summer there, everything went wrong. At least that hasn't changed.</p>
<p>In other words: AU where Ford kept the Shack and Stan went on his way. A twenty-year-old Mabel Pines just meant to drive through Gravity Falls, but now she's staying in town to reopen the Mystery Shack, and ends up reconvening with all the people she thought she'd left behind- like the family she thought forgot her, and the demon she thought was dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing around with this idea for awhile now... I finally did a fair bit of writing for it to deal with my homework and I'm excited to keep it going, especially after vs The Future... They'll be a good few spoilers for the show of course, but this holds a small bit of canon divergence, especially since the show isn't over yet. Hopefully I've been wrong about everything. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Here's chapter one!

_I can say it but you won’t believe me_

_You say you do but you don’t deceive me_

_It’s hard to know they’re out there_

_It’s hard to know that you still care_

_\- "Dead Hearts" Stars_

Chapter One

Mabel yawned and sat up, stretching her head from side to side. Maybe sleeping in her car hadn't been a good idea. She flipped down the shade in the front of her car and opened the mirror. Well, at least her makeup had remained more or less intact. She was a little raccoony, but hey, the smoky look was _kind of_ sexy. And she'd been smart enough to put her hair in a ponytail, so it hadn’t frizzed out like it had been known to in the past. So she could probably keep driving.

She brought her seat back up and was about to back up and out of the rest stop, when she remembered that she had no idea where she was. Mabel sighed and headed into the gas station. She made a beeline for the maps and took one down, then crossed over the counter. The man there was very involved in his phone, but a few coughs got his attention.

“Hey,” Mabel grinned, unfolding the map. “I was wondering if you could show me where this is?” He raised his eyebrows. Mabel smiled patiently. Then he pointed to a sign by the maps. She read it aloud. “All maps taken down and opened _must_ be paid for. Well, duh.” She reached into her pocket and rooted around for change. “Now, where are we?”

He lifted a pen from the desk, then dropped it onto the map and tapped.

“Thank you! Hey, wait a minute.” Mabel leaned over and looked at the map. “Say, we’re not too far from Gravity Falls, are we?” The guy shrugged. “Actually, I think I’m gonna buy a bottle of water too.”

_Gravity Falls._

She drove a little while, and then Mabel pulled over at the turnoff from the main road, next to a sign reading “ _This Way to Gravity Falls!”_ She stared up at the peeling paint. She could barely made out the picture, but it seemed to depict the water tower.

 _Maybe a quick drive over wouldn’t hurt,_ she thought. _Maybe I could even spend the night with Candy. Grab breakfast at the Greasy Diner, dinner with Wendy? Maybe even stop by to see-_

She stuck out her lower jaw. She would _not_ go see Great Uncle Ford. But she _would_ go to see her friends, she would have a nice visit to a touching place, and she would have fun. Then she’d finish the drive back to Los Angeles.

Mabel shifted gears and stepped on the gas. She moved at a slow, tourist’s pace at first, but the forest along the road hadn’t changed much, and she soon sped up. She did her best not to focus on what was to come, and instead turned up the radio.

Static. Static. Static. The local radio station. No, not that. Static again.

She brought her car to a halt as another billboard came into view. _Come and See the Mystery Shack!_ She swallowed and looked over at the turnoff. So long as she was in the area… she _should_ visit him, shouldn’t she? Right? Right. _Right._

Mabel took the turn. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel, and she went white as the road became more and more bumpy. She slowed at the sign that read _CLOSED- Permanently._ Finally, she came to a halt in front of the wooden A-frame. The front was empty, and she could see the overgrown grass in the back.

She parked and started for the front door. The old sign was laying next to the porch, the S resting on top. The grass had grown around it, and next to it was the crumbling, darkened remains of rock-that-looked-like-a-face-rock. It didn’t look much like a face now. Certainly not a healthy one.

Mabel picked the rock up and moved it next to the door. Maybe greeting guests would brighten rock-that-looked-like-a-face’s day. She lifted her hand to knock on the door, then thought better of it.

She took a step back, skin going cold. Not now. She couldn’t do this right now. She needed cookies or something. She needed a cookie to eat.

Mabel returned to her car and stared at the house for a moment, then put it in reverse and drove into town. She parked outside of the Dusk 2 Dawn. It had been reopened, and was a shining white-and-neon testimony to modern living. She approached the glistening doors and pushed them open. Crisp, cold air rushed out to greet her. Could the former Mystery Shack offer that? No.

“Let’s see,” she muttered to herself. “Cookies- and lunch. I’ll make some lunch. That’ll be great!”

She made her way through the aisles and found hot dogs, microwaveable popcorn, bananas, and a few other convenience store items to piece together into a lunch. She had just set her sights on a plastic box of cookies when she heard her name.

“Mabel?”

She looked up at the counter and felt a shudder in her chest.

“Wendy!”

Mabel dropped her items on the counter and Wendy motioned to her. “What, no hug, man? Get over here!”

Mabel hurried around the counter, a smile stretching across her face. She wrapped her arms around Wendy and sneezed.

“Still covered in sawdust, I see.” She rubbed her nose, and Wendy laughed.

“I can’t believe you’re here! It’s been ages, how are you?”

Mabel shrugged. “I’m okay, I guess. What about you?”

“You’re here, dude! I’m _great_! What brings you into town?”

Mabel shrugged again. “I was… sort of in the area.”

“For the first time in years, apparently. Aren’t we good enough for you?”

“No, no, I-” Mabel tensed, then realized Wendy was joking. “No, you aren’t. Too small. Me, I’m go big or go home.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Here, let me ring you up.” Wendy started to scan her items. “Yo, say hi, Ma and Pa. You remember Ma and Pa, right, Mabel?” Wendy glanced around. “Ungh, they’re probably sleeping. You know how old people are.”

Mabel glanced around the store, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She’d almost forgotten about the elderly ghosts until Wendy had mentioned them. Apparently even ethereal spirits needed naps, which was a little comforting.

“You want a bag?” Wendy asked.

“That’d be great.”

“Are you okay? You seem a little quiet.”

“Oh, you know. I’m just thinking. It’s been awhile.”

“Sure has.” Wendy handed her a bag. “Hey, my lunch break’s coming up. If you want to grab a bite…?”

“That sounds great!” Mabel said. “Except… no. I can’t. I was kind of maybe sort of gonna… do… something.”

She and Wendy both looked down at the bag, and Wendy nodded.

“Damn you and your social skills. Make sure you have fun at your lunch, okay?”

“Oh, totally.”

“And you better haul your ass back here sometime so we can make plans and catch up. You’ll be in town for awhile, right?” Wendy smiled hopefully.

Mabel sighed. “Maybe.

“Hell yeah! Then we’ll have time to hang. And Ma and Pa would love to say hi too, they think you’re an absolute doll.”

Mabel honestly couldn’t remember a single positive encounter with the ghosts, but she nodded and promised that she’d come back to see them. Wendy waved as she headed out the door.

She climbed into her and hugged the bag to her chest, letting out a deep breath. Coming here had been a bad, _bad_ idea. Why did she always have to be so stupid?

Mabel set the bag down in the passenger seat and turned her car around. She was tempted to just leave, but now she’d bought the food, and besides. She didn’t want to come this far and then quit.

She parked in front of the former Mystery Shack again, grabbed the bag, and headed up the sinking steps. Jeez, the deck was really starting to rot. She was starting to feel a little lightheaded, and her heart was beating too quickly and too loudly.

Mabel lifted her free hand and knocked. A moment of rushing silence passed, but there was no answer.

 _Maybe he’s not home,_ she realized. _Maybe he moved._

_Or maybe he’s dead._

Yeah, that could happen. He could be actually, literally, full on dead.

Mabel turned to leave, then stopped. She had heard something inside. She moved back towards the door and listened. Had it been her imagination?

She bit her lip and reached forward. Her insides were cold and shaking underneath her skin, like someone had set her bones on vibrate. Moving much too slowly, she clenched her fist and knocked again.

The sound seemed to echo and, after a moment, a voice answered her.

“Who’s there? I’ve got a gun!”

Mabel’s arm fell. The voice seemed older, dustier, weaker, but it was him. She recognized it. She’d know that suspicious, threatening tone anywhere.

 _Turn around turn around turn around,_ she thought.

“Open the door, please,” she said.

“Is this the groceries? You’re supposed to leave them on the porch! The money’s all out there for you!”

“It’s not the groceries.”

There was a clinking sound, as if he’d begun to undo a chain. Was he unlocking the door? There was a sliver of movement. He might have set his hand down on the doorknob.

“Please open the door, Great Uncle Ford.”

It creaked open and he came into view, darkened by the room behind him, his eyes narrowed against the light. He was hunched over and aged. His fingers were thin and brittle around a pistol, and his face was sagging and solemn.

“Hi,” Mabel said shyly.

He squinted and pushed his glasses up his nose.

“Mabel? Why do you have the groceries?”

She looked down. “Oh, these aren’t- these are my groceries. I brought you lunch. Well, I brought stuff for lunch. It’s kind of half made. Can I come in?”

He looked her up and down, then nodded in acceptance, and opened the door further. Mabel stepped inside and held back a sneeze. It was dusty, and smelled like mold.

“I’ll have to apologize for the state of things,” Stanford said shortly, tucking his gun away. “I don’t come up here too much, it’s not my favorite way in and out of the building. Oh, let me get the lights.”

He turned them on. Judging by the state of him, he didn’t have _any_ favorite way out of the building. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and his skin was a sickening color.

“It’s fine,” Mabel smiled weakly, and her sneeze escaped. “Just a... little dusty is all.”

“Yes… you said you’d brought lunch?”

“Oh, right. I got some popcorn, and cookies-”

“That doesn’t sound very healthy.”

“Well, I thought it might be fun,” Mabel told him. _So shut the hell up._ “I also got bananas and hot dogs.”

“Hot dogs? From where?”

“Just the convenience store.”

Stanford frowned. “Do you know what they _put_ in those things?”

Mabel’s shoulders fell. “You don’t have to eat them. It’s not like I got some- special food, I just thought since I was in town-”

“If you bought them, I might as well. It is lunch time, after all. Isn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You know where the kitchen is,” Stanford said, and stood back to let her walk by. Mabel headed for the kitchen, where the lights were on. There was a pile of dishes in the sink that looked stuck together, and a stack of paper plates on the counter. She grabbed two and set them on the table, then pulled out the two hot dogs and bananas. She stuck the popcorn in the out of date microwave, and was almost amazed when it worked. She put the box of cookies in the middle of the table, then a Pitt Cola at each setting. Then she checked the fridge, just in case. She wasn’t too surprised to discover it empty.

“Lunch is served,” she said without much enthusiasm, and Sanford sat with even less. He chewed his hot dog sullenly. The sounds of popping corn filled the kitchen, then gave way to silence after Mabel had brought the bag to the table.

“Do you like chocolate chip cookies, Uncle Ford?” she asked, but she knew the answer.

“No.”

“I wanted to get you some snickerdoodles but they didn’t sell those. Maybe I’ll bring some by later, homemade ones. Would that be okay?”

“Mm.”

“And I can pick up some groceries for you, if you want to give me a list, or I’ll just grab some necessities. You know. Like water.”

“I have my groceries delivered.”

“Yeah, but this way you don’t need to leave money out for them. It’ll be like a week off. You can even go spend crazy, it’ll be my treat.”

“Mm.”

“And if there’s any out of town sciencey stuff you need, I could go get it.”

“Most places ship.”

“Well, if there’s any way I can help…” Mabel trailed off and stared down at her hot dog. She really didn’t want any. She peeled her banana and had that instead. “Hey, how’s your research been? Is everything going good?”

“Fine.”

“Are you, you know, getting new material? Or just working through all the information?” Ford glared at her. “There’s nothing wrong with that, I say! Especially when you’ve got such a surplus. I mean, look at you, Miser. Interdimensional traveller, am I right? Right.” Mabel reached over to open the box of cookies. “Okay, dessert time! Are you sure you don’t want any? More for me!” She chewed her cookie loudly. This had been such a bad idea. “I’ll probably be in town for a little while. Do you have my number?”

“No.”

“That’s what I thought! I’ll leave it with you if you want to call me.”

“I don’t like the phone.”

“Me either! I’ll leave my email too.” Mabel looked over at the fridge. There was a pencil on the counter and-

And there were photos on the fridge. Old photos.

Mabel looked back. “I’ll make sure to give you that before I leave town.”

“Sure.”

She took a fistful of popcorn. Several long moments of silence passed. Stanford swallowed, and took a breath as if he were about to say something. “Mabel… How have you been?”

“Alright! I’ve been doing really well with, you know, life and stuff. Decent income, decent housing.”

“Good,” Stanford said, indicating that she did not need to tell him anymore.

“... And you?”

“Oh, fine.”

That had gone well. _Just don’t-_

“And how’s Dipper doing?”

Mabel was frozen for a minute, then looked down at the box of cookies. She took another.

“He’s okay, I think.”

“And his show?”

“His show’s doing fine,” she said in a cold voice. “It just got renewed.”

“Hmmph.” Ford chewed his hot dog disdainfully. “People will watch anything _._ ”

“It’s a pretty popular show,” Mabel went on, ignoring him. “And Dipper helps write, too. So you know, all the information is-”

“Right.”

Mabel gave Ford a sharp look. “Just because you didn’t want him to do it doesn’t make it bad.”

“Oh, of course not.”

She glowered at him. “You don’t need to be such a bitter old man.”

“I’m not bitter at all.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Hmmph.”

“Okay.” Mabel stood up. “I’m gonna go.” Mabel picked up her plate and went to toss it into the trashcan, but saw that it was full. She relocated it to the counter. “Do you want to go grab breakfast tomorrow?”

“Right, at one of the _great_ restaurants here.”

She scowled. “Okay, well, I’ll bring something over. What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s on you, then. Are you done?”

“Yes.”

Mabel brought his relatively untouched food to the counter as well, then put the two unopened sodas in the fridge. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Mm.”

“Okay, then have a nice day! I’m off to hunt down a bed.”

“Good luck with that.”

Stanford followed her to the door. _That_ was a twist. Mabel stood in the doorway for a moment, thinking he might want to say something, then he closed it behind her. She heard him relocking the door and rolled her eyes. Wow, thanks, Uncle Ford.

Mabel headed for her car and drove into town. Time to find a place to stay.

 


	2. The Deal

Wendy was standing outside the Dusk 2 Dawn and talking to some guy in a heavy looking jacket. Mabel pulled up at the curb and honked. She waved when Wendy glanced over, and Wendy grinned and waved back. The guy turned to look at her, revealing himself to be Robbie Valentino. He flicked his hair from his eyes, and lifted half a hand in greeting.

“Yo, Mabel, my dude.” Mabel rolled down her window, and Wendy leaned through. “Does this mean lunch is a-go?”

“Sure thing! I just want to drop my bags off first. If I’m gonna stay, I need a _place_ to stay.”

Wendy shrugged. “Yeah… I’d offer my place, but, you know. Lots of males. Loud ones.”

Mabel laughed. “Uh huh.”

“You should try the Northwest place,” Robbie said. Mabel made a face. “Ungh, not their _house._ They’ve got a bed and breakfast now.”

“Woah, really?”

“Oh, yeah,” Wendy said. “I always forget it exists. It’s mostly just tourists, but, it’s got the beds and the breakfast.”

“That’s exactly what I need!” Mabel smiled at Wendy in apology. "But it's summer and tourism exists, so..."

“Yeah, do what you need to do, dude. Lunch tomorrow,” Wendy said. “Right? Promise?”

“Pinky promise.” Mabel shifted gears. “Okay, I’ll see you guys around!”

She checked into the minimalistically designed- and named- _Northwest’s_ and, despite her intent to go out and catch up with the townsfolk, she found herself watching episode after episode of bad sitcoms. The next morning, Mabel woke up in a cocoon of blankets. She had the sense that she'd had a dream, but did not remember what it was.

She sat up, shrugging the warm blankets off. She was drenched in sweat, and it didn’t help that her room was just as hot as her blanket fort. Perhaps a cold shower would fix this.

When Mabel got out, she flinched at her reflection in the mirror. It was like someone had socked her in each eye. She pulled down a towel and scrubbed her old makeup away, then tried to wash the black smears out of the cloth. Well, that wasn’t working. She’d just fix it later.

She hadn’t exactly packed for a trip to Gravity Falls, but she’d had one spare outfit in case she didn’t get back to Los Angeles in one day, so at least she had clean clothes. Mabel got changed and then grabbed her phone and wallet, and headed down the hotel’s breakfast place. She turned on her phone and glanced down to make sure she didn’t have any messages. She’d slept in a little. It was after ten.

Didn’t she have to be somewhere? _Crap._ So she had to miss out on Northwest-manufactured breakfast for a meal with a guy who didn’t have food. Fun.

Mabel sighed and trotted over to her car, and when she reached Ford’s house, she almost thought that he might have slept in, declared her dead to him, or perhaps died himself, and would not be answering the door. In fact, she was so sure he wouldn’t open the door, she almost convinced herself that knocking was not necessary, and she could just leave.

But she knocked, and after a few moments of silence, turned around to leave.

Then there came a yell. “Is that the groceries?”

“No!” she shouted.

“Oh, Mabel! Come on in, the door’s open!”

Mabel frowned. He sounded… cheerful. Was he on drugs or something? That would be dangerous. She should leave. She reached for the door handle and to her shock, it _was_ open. She glanced down the edge of the door inside, finding a total of five locks and two chains, every one of which had been undone.

“Sorry I’m late!” she called.

“What’s that? I’m in the kitchen.”

Mabel closed the door behind her, relieved to see that the lights were on. She walked down the musty hallway and turned into the kitchen. Stanford was hunched over the stove, and there was a distinct scent of smoke.

“Mabe- ah, there you are.”

“Sorry I’m late,” she repeated.

“Oh, it’s no matter. I myself only woke up three and a half minutes ago.”

Mabel glanced around the kitchen. So he’d unlocked his superdoor, cleaned the kitchen, and set the table and three and a half minutes? At his age?

“Right.”

“I’ll have to apologize for my, ah, disposition yesterday. But today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present, you know.”

He turned around, clutching a pan in his- _not_ his- oven mitts. They were Stanley’s oven mitts. Mabel would know.

Ford dumped scrambled eggs onto each plate at the table, then dropped the pan in his empty sink.

“Did you clean up?”

“Please, sit down. Just tidied up a bit, it was high time for some straightening up around here! People do make _food_ in this room, after all.” Mabel sat down at the table, and Stanford carried a paper plate of toast to the table. “I’m afraid my supply of butter has gone dry. Would you like jam?”

“Thank you.”

“And anything to drink?”

“Oh, thank you.”

Ford bent over to look in the fridge. “My coffeemaker is a bit outdated, but can I interest you in some orange juice?”

“Well,” Mabel grinned. “Does it have plastic dinosaurs?”

“No, of course not.” Stanford gave her a curious look as he rose.

“It was just- um, a joke.” Mabel laughed. “Kind of a dumb one. I’d love some OJ.”

“Whatever you say.”

Stanford carried a carton over to the table, then sat down across from her. He was certainly looking better than the day before. Maybe he’d just been missing some caffeine and a full night’s sleep.

“How long will you be in town for?” he asked.

Mabel shrugged. “I’m not really sure yet. I wasn’t even planning on coming through, but I was in the area, and figured I should stop by.”

“So a quick visit?” Ford smiled at her, but looked a little disappointed. Mabel felt a flicker of warmth in her heart. She was a little rough on him sometimes, never to his face, but when push came to shove he was a textbook example of her Everyone’s A Good Person Deep Down theory.

“No.” Mabel grinned at him. “Technically speaking, I don’t have work. So long as I’m at school when it starts.”

“What brought you to the area?”

Mabel shrugged. “Just nerd stuff at a convention.”

Stanford’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that so?”

Mabel decided the silverware didn’t look moldy and wasn’t too dusty, and had a large bite of eggs. “Oh, yeah. Just a little one up in Portland.”

"What was it a convention for?" Ford demanded.

"It was multifandom." Mabel couldn't help but feel a bit gooey at how excited he was. In that gruff, Ford-y way. "I cosplayed a little. Just cartoon characters, though."

"Who was there?"

"It was mostly voice actors, and, uh, me. I was there. I had a pretty cool panel. Just a small one, for this comic I do."

"Incredible! Who prints it?"

"It's all online." Mabel blushed. "It's nothing big."

"Well, it sounds fascinating. Bring a copy by so I can look over it."

"I'll send you a link later."

"Excellent. Did Dipper attend as well?"

Mabel's smile vanished. "Oh. No."

"No? That's uncharacteristic of him."

"His show's a bit... bigger," Mabel said.

"Of course, of course. On that topic, Mabel, there's a favor I'd like to ask of you. It's just a small one, but it would be a big deal to me. And the world," he added. Of course.

"Sure thing." Mabel nodded, and Ford looked smug. He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Fantastic. You see, I was hoping you could get in contact with Dipper so I could-"

Mabel's fork fell to the floor. She bit her lip.

"... Dipper?"

Ford nodded. "Yes, Dipper. So I could speak to him about-"

"No.” Mabel shook her head. “No, I- I can't _do_ that, Uncle Ford."

"Nonsense, you have a cell phone. It's very important that I speak to him, but he won't take my calls-"

So this was why he'd been such a great host. He was hoping to get something out of it.

 _But that's not fair_.

"It's not my fault he won't talk to you," Mabel said. "I can't make him-"

"Then at least let me use your phone."

Stanford held out his hand expectantly, and her phone felt like lead in her pocket.

"I'll call him later," she promised.

He nodded, and narrowed his eyes. "Just don't forget." He looked down and began to fill his cup with orange juice, then became engrossed with the back of the carton. This seemed to signify the end of their conversation.

"Why do you need to talk to Dipper?"

"Oh, it's nothing important."

Mabel shrugged. "Then maybe I won't call him." Ford glanced up from the carton, looked her up down, and then went back to reading it.

"It's nothing you'd be interested in."

"But I _am_ interested. That's why I'm asking."

"Then it's nothing you would understand. Nerd stuff."

Mabel frowned. "I am a nerd."

"It concerns my work with Dipper. It's nothing you need to know about."

"Oh." Mabel looked down at her food. "But-"

Ford gave her a silencing look. Mabel took a piece of toast. She stared at it for a moment before setting it down.

"You know," she said. "He's... my brother. I think I actually do kind of need to know about it. In fact. I think I sort of have a right to!"

Ford sighed. Mabel's eyes widened.

"I do!" she insisted, her voice rising. "I _do_ have a right to know! I've always- you've just never-"

Ford gave her another look, and Mabel clenched her fists.

"I do! I did! Dipper's _my_ brother and you just- I- he was my partner to!"

"Of course he was."

Mabel glared at him. "You believe that?”

“Sure.”

“Look me in the eye and say that."

Ford sighed again.

"Dammit.” She reached up and pulled her fingers through her hair, making fists. “You're always like this."

"How? Calm? At ease?"

"A _jerk._ " Mabel waved her hands around. "You're always a _jerk._ I spent months solving mysteries with Dipper but _I_ was never mysteryish enough for you! Grunkle Stan lived here for like- he spent _thirty_ years here and you just took his house-"

"It's _my_ house."

"He had a business! He was here so he could bring _you_ home! He gave up everything just so- and you just- and Dipper was _my_ twin-"

"I can't make you understand my relationship with Stanley, nor my actions."

"Why not? Because I'm not smart? Because I don't care enough about you and your research or something? I came to Gravity Falls too! Not just Dipper! _Me!_ _He_ barely even wanted to be here, at first! And I did all his shit with him. I'll bet you didn't know that."

"Of course I know. You helped Dipper-"

"I didn't _help_ him. We were a _team._ We were- and you just- it's not _my_ fault you never included me!" She stood up. "Let's have like, lunch tomorrow or something. I've got to be someplace else now."

She stormed out of the room. Jeez. _Jeez._ _Thanks, Uncle Ford, thanks a lot!_ What else had she expected? She had almost made it to the door when Ford grabbed her from behind.

"I can see why you're upset," he said. He was still acting like everything was fine. "But understand that Dipper _demonstrated_ his abilities to me- his additions to my journal-" Mabel snorted, and Ford's calm demeanor vanished as he furrowed his brow. "What was that?"

"We were a _team_." Mabel said. " _I_ did stuff to."

"Of _course_ you did, but Dipper-"

"I _did_ ,” Mabel cut him off, her voice cold. “You just never asked."

"Is that so?"

" _Yeah_. Quentin Trembley, I found him. I have _literally_ saved Dipper's life. Scared off gnomes? Me. Plus other times."

"That's not-"

"I've done stuff _you_ haven't, too." Mabel folded her arms. "I'll bet you didn't even know that unicorns don't really know if you're pure of heart. Or that manatees rival merfolk in intelligence."

Stanford didn't say anything.

"Lunch tomorrow," Mabel reminded him, and spun on her heel. She stalked down the steps, nearly tripping onto the grass but landing safely.

"Mabel!"

"Not talking to you," she muttered.

"Mabel- _dear-_ " She turned. Hesitantly, Stanford followed her down onto the grass, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. "Please-"

“Please _what?_ You want me to call Dipper? Pretty please? You want to take him from someone else now?” Mabel pushed her hair out of her eyes, and pressed the heels of her hands against them. “I can’t believe this, I can’t _believe this-”_

Before she could turn away, he grabbed her by the shoulders. He leaned toward her, his mouth drawn tight, and his eyes anxious.

“Mabel, listen to me- you’re _right.”_

“You piece of- I’m _right?_ I mean- _yeah_ ,” She wrenched her shoulder away, and glared at him as she rubbed it. “I’m right-”

“You _are_ right, I got- caught up in your personality, but I never looked past that. _You_ were- you _are_ just as brilliant as Dipper.”

“Uh huh,” Mabel said. She could feel her nails digging into her palms, and something pricked the corners of her eyes.

“And I let that talent go to waste! I was a fool, Mabel. An absolute fool.”

“Yeah, well. You’re good at that.”

He didn’t seem to hear her. “But you’ve come back! Surely you had some- some _purpose_ in mind. You came here for a reason! Perhaps even _brought_ here for that reason!” Ford pulled back. “You’ve always been creative, and now, when what I need most is- new ideas, concepts-”

Mabel took a step away from him. “I don’t think I follow you-”

“ _You_ , Mabel! _Please_ , do call Dipper, he’s been trained, he knows everything I do- then you- you can work here together! And in the meantime, you- I need _you_ to aid me in my investigations! You were _meant_ to! You see that, don’t you?” He grabbed her shoulders again, and his hands were like vices. “I once told Dipper that this town was like a magnet for things that were special! But somehow- I didn’t recognize you as one of them!”

Mabel backed up. “N-no, Uncle Ford, I don’t think that’d be a good idea-”

Ford did not come after her, but somehow his body seemed to follow her. He leaned forward, his gestures were ecstatic, and his eyes were much too bright. “ _You_ can help me!”

“I don’t exactly-”

“You have to! This is- this is the most important thing I’ve worked for! It’s the most important thing in the world. You have to see that-”

“I don’t see anything!” Mabel turned around, and hurried to her car. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Or later!”

“Mabel, _dear,_ please-”

“I don’t want to!”

“Please! Mabel! Isn’t there anything- If there’s any way I can convince you-”

She turned at her car door, ready to shout at him. There was no way he could convince her, she was over this, she was over him-

But she barely saw Stanford. The sky, the forest, the overgrown grass, all seemed to point to the old wooden house behind him. Mabel swallowed, and all of her feelings seemed to fall through her feet.

She pointed.

“That.”

“... What?”

“I want the Shack,” Mabel pointed again. “I want the deed to the property, so I can reopen the Mystery Shack. If you do that, then I’ll- then I’ll call Dipper. And maybe even- I might want to help you after all, maybe. In fact, I’ll even finish college online or something and live here full time.”

Stanford frowned. “You want my house?”

“I want the Shack!”

“Yes, the Shack- but it’s- well, quite frankly, it’s gone to pieces-”

Mabel folded her arms. “I don’t care. I’m a home renovating genius. And _I_ won’t evict a family member who’s been living alone with only this building for years!

Ford closed his eyes. “Alright. The deed to the Shack. And in return-”

“I’ll call Dipper, and move in. I’m not saying I’ll be your apprentice, but I will be around.”

He nodded thoughtfully, and looked down at her. “Fair enough.” He held out his hand. “Shall we shake on it?”

Mabel looked down. She could almost remember a time when she’d been freaked out and completely amazed by Ford’s hands. She didn’t want to say that she hated the image of his six fingers, but they made her heart twist. She reached forward, stomach sinking, and grabbed his hand.

“So we’ve got a deal.”

“So we do.”

They clasped hands and met eyes. Stanford pulled his hand back.

“I’ll go get that right now,” he told her, and headed back into the shack. Mabel pulled out her phone and opened up her contacts. She felt strangely calm as the phone rang.

_“This is the personal number for Dipper Pines.”_

Mabel’s eyes felt damp. She began to blink, trying to stop the tears from falling.

_“I think you’re great, but if I didn’t give you this number, please just write me instead, and I’ll read it ASAP. We’re coming up at the beep, but if you know me, leave me a message and I’ll get back to you.”_

There was a beep. Mabel turned off her phone as Ford appeared from the Shack.

“Dipper didn’t pick up,” she told him. “I’ll call again later.”

Without speaking, he handed her a scroll of paper. She opened it. Sure enough, it was the deed. She rolled it back up.

“Thanks, Uncle Ford.”

“What time will you be moving in?”

“Uh,” Mabel rocked on her heels. “I’ll come over tomorrow and, maybe later today to clean up, and once it’s you know, safe and stuff... Maybe then?”

“Naturally.”

“I’ve got lunch plans, but I’ll just do shopping, so I have clothes and food, and then head back over here.”

Ford nodded. “Of course. It’s a plan, then.”

Mabel bit her lip and nodded back, then slugged him in the shoulder. She coughed. “It’s, ah… It’s a plan, Stan! Ford.”

The corner of his mouth twitched up, then he cleared his throat.

“Then I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, really soon.” Mabel took a step away from him, then opened her car door. “So. See you then, huh?”

“See you then.”

She gave a little wave, then backed out of the lot. As she turned, she caught sight of Stanford turning around in her mirror. When she looked again, he was gone. She rounded the corner, and the Shack vanished too.


	3. The Hand that Fixed the Car

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments!!!!! So pumped to escape reality with the new ep this monday.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Wendy said.

Mabel shook her head rapidly. “I’m not kidding, Wendy!”

“It’s been like, _days!_ When are we gonna have lunch?”

Today marked the five-day-aversary of Mabel’s relocation to Gravity Falls. She’d gotten through most of the basics: her parents were shipping her important belongings, and mostly filled in on what was happening. They were a little distraught about her temporarily leaving college, but Mabel had talked them down. She’d even made up a great bit about finding herself and possibly joining the Peace Brigade. She had gone shopping with Candy and Grenda, and had even managed to stop in at a few of her old haunts. It had been surprisingly great to check in with Lazy Sue and Tyler. Somehow, though, her lunch with Wendy had managed to get postponed again and again.

“We _can_ have lunch today! I just have a flat tire, is all! It’s not a big deal, I just need a ride.”

“It’s not my turn with the car!”

“It’s not? Damn.” Mabel leaned back in her seat. “Okay, well, I don’t think I have a spare tire, so I’ll probably just call a tow and then I’ll be in town anyway! Then we have lunch, I hang out with someone, I guilt them into driving me. Or I walk. We can make it work!”

“Are you sure, man?” Wendy sounded concerned. “I mean, how far away from your house are you? Those woods are kind of... unsafe. If I were you, I’d either head straight here or straight home”

Mabel got out of her car to look in the trunk. She _really_ loved her car. It was lavender with a sky blue trim, hubcaps matching, and she was determined to drive it as often as possible for as long as possible.

“Yeah, well, if you were _you_ , you’d probably, like, go into the woods to hunt a monster down in the woods then kill it with an ax.”

“You’re not entirely wrong, but it’s still dangerous.”

Mabel opened her trunk. “Psh, please, Wendy. This is me we’re talking about. Oh my gosh!”

“What?”

“I _do_ have a spare tire! I gotta go, I’m gonna figure out out to change these. If I die in the woods you’ve got to avenge me.”

Mabel hung up before Wendy could finish whatever joke she was making. Okay, time to attach a tire. She’d never done it before, but she cared aggressively about her car, and would not let a spare tire end in it being dragged along the road.

She pretty much ended up ripping out the flat tire, and sort of shoving the new one on. It seemed to fit… kind of. She could just get it _actually_ fixed in town, but that would have to do in the meantime. She texted Wendy to say she was on her way, and then got back in her seat and bumped along the road. So the road was a little rough, that was fine. She just had to drop the car off with a mechanic, then she was set. Steve’s little auto shop was gone, but the used car place was just as good.

Mabel had to be out of it, because she completely forgot that it was _Gleeful’s_ used cars, as in, run by the Gleeful family, until the door had shut and she was staring a napping Bud in the face.

For a split second, she thought she might be able to escape, but the door had a bell on it, and it had woken Bud up. He blinked open his eyes and pulled his hand from his cheek, leaving a red mark behind, and looking around in confusion for a moment before catching sight of Mabel. She forced a smile onto her face, and gave him a little wave. Bud sat up, straightening his hat, a shine coming into his eyes.

“Why, hel _lo_ there! Can I interest a _lovely_ lady like yourself in a used car? We here at Gleeful’s Dealership _pride_ ourself on quality, yes we do!”

Mabel almost opened her mouth to explain who she was, but she quickly backpedaled. “I’ve already got a car!”

“Are you looking to sell?”

“No, no, it’s just that my tire’s flat!” Mabel beamed at him. Hopefully he wouldn’t recognize her and remember her younger self ruining pretty much every aspect of his life. “You guys can probably help, right?”

Bud Gleeful grinned. Mabel kind of liked him at this age. His hair was going white, and his face was wrinkled from smiling. She’d always sort of thought that she might like to be like Bud when she was older. Goofy, a little spacey, nice. Except without all the… other stuff.

A crash came from the another room, and Bud winked. “You’re in luck, missy, we happen to have our _own_ mechanic!” He nodded towards a door on the left. “Ever since ol’ Steve moved on…” He paused to remove his hat and put his hand over his chest.

Mabel's mouth formed an ' _o'_. “Steve… died?”

“No, he just moved to Colorado!” Bud stuck the old straw mess back on. “Well, with tourists still rolling through, and cars breaking down left and right, we employed a mechanic to keep our customers happy.”

There was another crash. This one sounded less random, and more like something falling.

“Is that all okay?” Mabel asked.

“Oh, that’s all fine. Just mechanics happening.”

“Uh,” Mabel said. She nodded quickly. She didn’t like the way her heart was pumping. It was too quick and very cold. “Alright. Um. My car’s right outside, so I can just, uh, pick it up tomorrow or whenever, I’ll just… make sure to get over here. I’ve got to meet someone for lunch, so I’m just gonna-”

The door opened. Mabel shut up immediately and grabbed the door handle. She just needed to reach the bell, then he wouldn’t hear it and she could get out-

That didn’t seem to be a problem, though, because not-so-Lil Gideon completely ignored her and stormed up to his father’s desk.

“I keep telling you!” Mabel didn’t know how his voice had stayed so shrill, but Christ, it was like a tea kettle. Then again, he was covered in grease and wearing those dumb coveralls mechanics sometimes had, so she could at least sympathize with him. Almost. “That car’s a piece of junk. I don’t know why you still have it!”

“Oh, _pish.”_ Bud dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “That old thing just needs a little loving.”

“It does _not_ need loving, Father! It needs a funeral director!”

“It’s vintage.”

“Vintage cars only sell when they work, or when they look nice! This is a piece of crap, I swear-”

Mabel rested her and on the knob and gave a little lean. The bell let out the beginnings of the chime and she jerked her hand back.

“Gideon Charles Gleeful, there is no need for such _language_ in my business- and in front of a customer-”

Gideon gave Mabel a sharp look. For a moment she thought she'd escaped recognition, then he slowly turned back around, eyes wide.

“That reminds me, son, this doll’s- tire?” Mabel nodded, because her mouth wouldn’t move, and Bud went on. “Her _tire_ ’s gone flat and she needs some help with it-”

“It’s fine,” she squeaked.

Gideon tilted his head. “Mabel _Pines?”_ he asked, forming the words slowly. A look of concern flitter across his face, then he broke into a grin. “Mabel Pines, it has been _far_ too long! It’s good to see you, great to see you-”

Bud’s smile spread back up. Mabel’s heart fell through her stomach. “Why, Mabel _Pines?_ I didn’t even recognize you with your hair short like that!"!

“What? Oh, yeah.”

“Your hair’s _adorable-_ ” Gideon gushed.

“And look how tall you’re getting!”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you, uh, get older.” Mabel coughed. “Height. You know.” _I should say something else, right?_ She gave Gideon a once over and finally came up with “You didn’t seem to have any trouble there.”

He looked ecstatic. “You noticed!”

Of course she’d noticed. His height was unnatural- he was still pudgy and soft looking, and everything about him seemed smaller than his height. But he had to be at least an inch taller than her, not including hair.

“Do you want to buy a car?” Gideon demanded. “Oh, there’s this great lime one that you’ll just _adore-_ ”

Mabel pointed out the door. “Um, just, uh- my tire. Flat. I put on a new one but it doesn’t seem stable. Probably because I don’t know how to put on tires?"

“Oh, you are just a _riot,_ Mabel, I forgot how funny you were! Isn’t she funny, Dad?”

Bud giggled. "You should be a comedian!"

"Thanks. You know, I have to get to lunch-"

"Oh, excuse us, Dad." Gideon opened the door for Mabel and winked. "You just show me that tire and it'll be all ready when you come back!”

Mabel's stomach flipped over. "Right, sure thing."

Gideon followed her out the door. "Would this be your car?"

"Well, it's the only car parked here."

"Hilarious," Gideon said, his cheerful tone fading. He headed towards it. "Let's see now- _huh._ You changed it?"

"Yeah."

"This doesn't look right." He got down on his knees and gave the wheel a decisive poke. "This one?"

"Yeah."

"And you changed it... How?"

"I dunno, by changing it?"

"Do you have your jack in here, or should I run and get mine?"

Mabel frowned. "Jack?"

"You changed it without a jack?"

"Yeah. Is that bad?"

Gideon turned around to give her a very confused look.

"But without a- did you just lift up the car while you put in the bolts?"

"Bolts?"

His confusion disappeared, and a look of shock appeared on his face. "So did you just rip off your tire and stick on a new one?"

"Isn't that how you do it?"

Gideon stared at her, then shook his head. "I'm gonna go get the jack. Just come get your car whenever you've got the time."

He headed back into Gleeful's then stuck his head back out the door.

"Your hair looks _great_ , by the way, _real_ cute! I'm _coming-"_

The door slammed shut. Mabel blinked at it a few times to clear her head. Okay. So Gideon was out of prison. That was just great. At least they’d had a conversation without him threatening her or asking her out; that was probably good, right? He’d seemed upset about her tire, though. But that was probably normal for mechanics. Since when had he been a mechanic, anyway?

Mabel crossed the street and headed for the Dusk 2 Dawn. Wendy was sitting at the counter looking bored, and Mayor Tyler seemed heavily invested in deciding between a packet of gluten free cookies or a vegan donut.

“Hey, Wendy!” Mabel crossed over to the counter. “I’ve got the tire thing under control, so _finally_ , lunch?”

“Yeah, I’m-” Wendy jerked her head towards Tyler. “I’m just waiting for the mayor here to figure out what he wants… jeez,” she added under her breath.

Mabel waved. “Hi Tyler!”

He looked up and waved back before going back what was apparently a difficult decision.

“I’m sorry,” Wendy said quietly. “He’s great, but you know how he is. I’ll be stuck here for like, hours, probably.”

“One time, he did this in the Mystery Shack,” Mabel said. “We just locked him in. He was still there when we got back.”

Wendy sighed. “Yeah, but Stan isn’t the boss here. Ma and Pa’ll kill me if I lock anyone in, especially the mayor.”

“Well, so long as he’s here, maybe we can just hang here?”

Wendy grinned. “Okay, sure!”

Mabel rushed over to grab some chips. “You want a hot dog?”

“Sure, dude!”

She brought a heap of food over to the counter, then handed Wendy a wad of bills. She sat down on the counter next to the food, and opened a bag of chips.

“That’ll be fifteen, no, seventeen-”

“Charge me, baby,” Mabel said, and began to chew her chips loudly. “Also, I just saw Gideon.”

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! Holy crap. It’s been awhile since you guys, like, saw each other, right?”

Mabel shrugged. “Yeah, but I think it’s... all good. He’s fixing my tire. That was kind of awkward, though.”

“Don’t worry, dude.” Wendy unwrapped the hot dog, and had a large bite. “I know he’s weird, but he’s kind of harmless. I mean, he sells cars, but he hasn’t unleashed any killer robots or anything. You know, at the end of the day, he's kind of a decent person.”

“Well, I guess that’s good.” Mabel winced as a sharp bit of chip went down her throat. She didn’t want to say it aloud, but she wouldn’t surprised if Gideon’s lack of killer robots was also related to the distinct lack of Mystery Shack and Pines family in the town. It would really suck if the return of both was the catalyst for him going batshit or something. But he’d been sort of an alright human being the last time they saw each other.

“Mostly he just annoys everyone.” Wendy sighed. “But, that’s Gideon for you. And he’s a pretty good mechanic, so I guess it works out. So he’s fixing your tire?”

“Yeah.” Mabel laughed. “He kind of freaked out when he found out I changed it wrong.”

“How’d you change it?”

She blushed. “Well, I just kind of… ripped it out and put on a new one?”

“Isn’t that how you do it?”

“I mean, literally. I just tore it off and shoved the other one on.”

“Holy crap.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you were ripped.”

Mabel shoved some more chips into her mouth. “It’s all the protein.” She opened a pack of Ho-Hos and didn’t bother to close her mouth as she chewed.

“Yep, buff as fuck.”

“Yo, reminds me. How’s Dipper doing?”

Mabel coughed, then forced a grin onto her face. “He’s doing pretty good. He was in San Diego a little while ago for Comic Con! You know, for his show?”

“Oh, yeah! I remember him emailing me about that. I’ve still only seen the first two seasons.”

“Well, there’re about six now.”

“Jeez. So I guess he doesn’t have student loans?”

“He could _give_ students loans.”

“Then I need to email him more often.”

Mabel laughed, then went for her wallet. “Hey, how much do you think a tire will cost?”

Wendy almost giggled. “Gideon always gives these terrible discounts-”

“Uh oh.”

“What?”

Mabel turned her wallet upside down, and a twenty dollar bill fell out. “That’s probably not enough for like, anything. I’ll just bring him donuts.”

“Donuts are valid payment.”

Tyler slammed a vegan donut onto the counter. He immediately began to talk so quickly Mabel couldn't understand him. Wendy gave her a guilty look.

"I'll go check in on my tire," she said. "Be back soon."

Wendy waved, and Tyler started to explain some sort of complex renovation plan. Mabel headed back down the street. Her car was no longer parked outside Gleeful’s, which was a little disconcerting. It was empty in the front room, so she rang the pink bell on the front desk.

“Comin’!” Gideon called from the room over. Mabel instantly felt a little ticked off.

The door opened and he emerged, greasier than before. “Oh, Mabel, it’s you! You should be dead.”

Mabel took a step back, panicking. “What?!”

“No, no!” Gideon shook his head quickly. “Let me start over. Your car’s not in good shape.”

Mabel let out a breath of relief, but still felt a little tense. “Why, because of the tire?”

“No, because your gas is leaking, your brakes are bad, and your steering is sh- it’s not good, hon.”

“Really?”

“Which is why you'd be dead. It’s a miracle you’re alive.”

She shrugged. “It’s an oldie.”

Gideon snorted. “Right, blame the used cars.”

“Can you fix it? It has sentimental value.”

He flashed her a smile. “I can’t make any promises... except to do my best!"

"Great, thanks." Mabel couldn't help but feel grateful. Gideon must have heard it in her voice because his smile grew. "Could you, uh, give me a price estimate?"

"Oh, for _you?_ It's nothing, dear, don't you worry about it!"

"I'd really feel more comfortable worrying about it," Mabel said.

"Please, it's my treat. Want to go have a look at her?" Gideon turned and headed through the side door, clearly expecting her to follow and since she wasn't sure what else to do, he was right.

Mabel squeaked, barely suppressing the screech rising in her chest. Her car. Was in ruins.

"I wouldn't worry about her, she'll be fine-"

Mabel hurried over. "You said you could fix it, right?!"

"Sure! Sure. How old is it?"

"I dunno."

"Oh. Well. It'll be fine. Has it always been so scratched up and...?"

Mabel nodded tearfully. "I told you, it's old."

"Why's it so important anyways?"

"A family member gave it to me."

"Aw, that's sweet. When you turned sixteen? My dad paid my bail when I was sixteen. Aren't parents great?"

"When I was sixteen they gave me a rat."

"Huh?"

"My parents gave me a rat when I turned sixteen."

“... Oh.” Gideon coughed. “Well, that sure is… sweet.”

“Yeah. So if you can’t give me a price estimate, how about a time one?”

He shrugged. “You know what you _should_ do? We’ve got a _great_ selection of cars here-”

“I am _not_ buying a new car.”

“We do rentals!”

“Really? Well, I don’t need another car,” Mabel decided. “I’ll just wait for this one. I own a bike. It’s not here yet, but I own it.”

“How are you getting home?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Do you need a ride?”

“It’s fine,” she told him. “Seriously.”

“I _insist-_ ”

“I don’t need you to give me a ride.” Mabel took a step back towards the door. “Thanks so much for helping me with the car though, really. It, um, it means a lot.”

Gideon looked disappointed.

“Nice seeing you,” Mabel said, and made her exit.

“Come back soon, you hear?”

“Bye,” she called, and the door shut behind her. She let out a large breath of air. That. Was. _Not_. Pleasant.

She pulled out her phone. Grenda probably owned a car.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the background of this fic'll either become clearer as it continues or won't be (A+ writing skills, me!) so I'll give a few notes every so often that might help to make sense of things. I'm going to try not to be spoilery, so I'll let you know whenever I'm about to drop some backstory. If you want to find things out later, just skip!  
> For this one, it's probably kind of obvious, but- in this AU, Weirdmageddon happened, Dipper and Mabel defeated Bill, and everyone survived (some casualties, I won't go in detail now). Ford took the Shack back and Stan now resides at condominium for the elderly (there's a word for that, I know it) somewhere hot and sunny. Mabel and Dipper both visited Ford over the next summers, where Dipper was his apprentice. New chapter up soon (I promise/hope).
> 
> Added 4/17: THIS CHAPTER TITLE IS AWFUL AND I'M SORRY.


	4. Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I look away for five seconds and Gravity Falls is ending? Thank you so much for the kudos! I'm going to put in this fic's official backstory below because I guess this is my last chance to put it out so we can all see how close I was. Skip it if you don't want to know yet!

Mabel dreamt that the trees had eyes. When she woke up, all that remained was a vague memory of telling one tree to stop judging her. The blankets were knotted around her.

She sat up and stretched, the blankets falling off. She rubbed her back. Somehow, she’d gotten back into the habit of sleeping in a fetal position. She hadn’t slept like that since high school, but now she was remembering how sore it made her.

Mabel was feeling a little exhausted, but she was still determined to put on her most cheerful front for Ford. It would either get him amped up or get him really ticked off, so win-win.

She’d already managed to scrub the shower down- that had been her first step in the cleaning up process, since _she_ needed a place to get clean. It smelled a little weird, but she washed herself off. The rest of the bathroom was safe to live in, as was the kitchen. Most of the other rooms just needed some dusting and new furniture, but she was a little concerned about the state of the museum and gift shop. Those were the next on the agenda.

She put on an old T shirt and jeans to clean in, since her precious wool shouldn’t risk it, then grabbed her phone for music before heading downstairs. Someone had left her a voicemail.

"Hey, Uncle Ford," she called, crossing through the kitchen to grab a bite.

"Mm," he said. Mabel grabbed two bananas and set one down in front of him.

"Remember, the roof guy's coming today." Mabel peeled her banana and gave him a sharp look. "So if you hear any weird noises you should assume that it's him."

A few days ago he had heard her hammering, and for lack of a better term, Ford had lost his shit.

"Why wouldn't I?" Ford replied. He seemed to be heavily invested in a newspaper.

"Do you get papers delivered here?"

He shrugged.

"As always, a mine of information," Mabel muttered, starting to feel annoyed. She finished her banana and tossed away the peel. "See you, Uncle Ford."

"I need you to get something for me."

"Huh?"

He slid a piece of paper from underneath his newspaper. "I drew up a list for you. You should be able to find everything in the forest, I wrote specific locations down."

Mabel took the paper. "Alright, fine. I'll try to get to that."

“Do get to it.”

“I will,” she snapped, shoving the list in her pocket. She headed for the gift shop and shut the door behind her, then flipped the lights switch. They flickered on, and Mabel inhaled sharply at the sight of the gift shop. She had only glanced at it once, but seeing it lit up was indescribable. She had been fifteen the last time she was here- no, fourteen. She hadn't gone in the gift shop when she was fifteen. That was her last summer in Gravity Falls, the year she avoided the gift shop, the museum, and the attic, and the whole Shack. The years before she had gone there for sleepovers on Summerween with Grendy and Candy, and other nights, too. But that had ended when she had to stop going into certain rooms, because standing there alone was too much to bear. After that year, she didn't come back.

Mabel headed for the cash register, giving the postcard rack a turn as she walked by. It creaked as it spun, and dust drifted off. She sneezed.

The room was a wreck. It was white from dust and spiders had taken it over. There was even something that looked like a nest under the shelves.

She wiped the dust from the _No Refunds_ sign on the cash register and smiled sadly. If only Grunkle Stan were here. She could fix the Shack up, but he was the real Man of Mystery.

Mabel decided vacuuming up the spiders and their houses- sorry, spiders- would be the best start. She headed back to grab one, and made sure to grab her phone. Once she was back in the gift shop, she turned on her phone to blast some music.

Oh, right. She had a voicemail. Mabel opened her messages, and felt her stomach tighten.

 _Dipper Pines_.

Mabel screwed her eyes shut and pressed play, and inhaled sharply when she heard his voice.

“ _Hi, Mabel! It's Dipper. Sorry I missed your call, and that it took me so long to get back to you. I, uh, have a lot of missed calls to go through sometimes, but I was really glad to see your name there! It’s like, two in the morning there right now… I'll call back later. Talk soon!”_

There was a click. Mabel’s phone slipped out of her hands and landed on the floor.

She looked up. She needed to get out of the Mystery Shack. She couldn't be here right now. She couldn't-

Mabel snatched up the list Ford had given her and shoved her phone deep into her pocket. She left the door open to air out the room and stormed down the front steps. She walked straight into the forest, looking down at the list.

“Unicorn hair, fucking Christ,” she muttered. “Honeysuckle juice… Tree sap, pine.” Mabel didn't know pine trees even _had_ sap. “... Snake specimen? Wow. The fuck does he expect me to…”

She turned around and went back for a bag, and a jar for the snake. Her eyes were getting damp, and she was rubbing them quickly when she returned to the forest. The unicorn hair and honeysuckle juice were easy enough. But sap and snake. Jeez.

She ignored the shivers the trees gave her. It was nothing new. So was the feeling of being watched. She almost liked it. It was comforting and familiar;  the forest had always been this way, and it always would be. She had come here a lot when she was fifteen.

Maybe what she needed was a break. She just needed to sit down and think for a moment, just take some time to make herself feel better.

 _He was glad that I called_.

Mabel sat down at the base of a tree and pulled up her legs. Fifteen had been a horrible year, and a terrible summer.

She sighed, her breath catching, and started to cry silently. She wished someone were here. Wendy, Ford, Candy, Grenda, even Dipper or Gideon. If she was with someone then she could cry loudly. She could have a breakdown. But she was alone in the forest. _Pathetic._ In a few moments, her cheeks were wet but the tears had stopped. She leaned back against the trees, throat dry and eyes burning, and decided to just recompose. She closed her eyes.

She suddenly felt more awake. Mabel yawned and straightened, looking around. She must have fallen asleep. Either the day had passed by or a storm had come in, because the world around her had a dusk-like quality, like the night had come and sucked out all the color. She looked up towards the sky to see if it was a cloud or if it was just getting dark, and frowned.

A bird. Frozen in midair. Mabel bit her lip. _That can’t be right._

No, not frozen. Stationary. It hung there, it’s wings moving as if through mud, like she had put the world in slow motion. The bird didn’t even seem to care. And the trees- the leaves were completely still. Before she had heard a stream running, but now the world was silent.

Mabel stood slowly, looking around. Time freezing nonsense? That had to be it. Stupid Gravity Falls. Stupid _time._

There was a prickling on the back of her neck, as if someone were watching her. She looked around.

The trees. The trees are always watching-

The ground wasn't solid and the sky was too heavy to breathe-

_Disco girl! Coming through!_

She was falling, her stomach rolled over and her heart slammed into her throat, and she landed like clay on the ground and

_That girl is you!_

Mabel sat up, breathing heavily. The sky was bright and her phone was ringing. Her heart sank back past her chest. “ _You can dance, party hard, the night is a whiiirl… oh, look at her, only one in the world, you are the disco girl!”_

Mabel wrestled it from her pocket. It was just like her to fall asleep at a time like this.

 _Dipper Pines_. Of course. That's what stupid the Babba ringtone _meant_.

_“Disco girl, coming through, that girl is-”_

She sent him to voicemail again.

This one was shorter.

_“Hey Mabel. I was hoping I'd catch you awake… Anyway, I hope you're having a good day. Call me back if you can, or text, email, whatever's best! Its great to hear from you. Talk soon?”_

A click and the sound stopped.

Mabel called him back. The phone rang once and she hung up before he could answer.

Then came a bad horror movie sound effect, and her screen lit back up. Dipper was texting her.

She shoved her phone back in her pocket. On to Ford’s list.

When she deemed the time right, she dialed Dipper again.

_“Hey! You’ve reached Dipper Pines. I think you’re awesome. This is my personal number, so only leave a message if I gave it to you directly. My email and stuff is on my site. Please, please don’t leave me a message unless I gave you this number. I won’t listen if I didn’t, and definitely won’t call back, and it makes getting to my actual mail super hard-”_

Mabel hung up. She was walking back to the Mystery Shack, and remembering what and idiot her brother was.

She opened the door. “Ford, I’m home!” she shouted, and set down her bag. “And I got you a snake specimen! Ford?”

Mabel put the snake-jar on the front table and headed down the hallway. “Ford? I got you the rest of the stuff. Great Uncle Ford?”

What if he’d fallen and couldn’t get up or something? What if something had fallen on him? He wasn’t in the kitchen. He could be crushed. He wasn’t in the living room. Or she could have taken too long and he had gone out, to look for her, or his things, and maybe he was being harassed by pixies. He wasn’t in her room, or upstairs. Downstairs. Where the portal was.

Mabel hurried down the staircase. _Please be alright, please-_

She ran past the vending machine and nearly tripped on her way down the staircase. Ford was at his desk. _Thank God… What if he’s dead?_ She crossed the room and went to shake him.

Mabel let out a sigh of relief and put his coat over his shoulders.

“Don’t scare me like that,” she chided him, and went back upstairs. She called Dipper back when she had service.

 _“Hey! You’ve reached Dipper Pines. I think you’re awesome. This is my personal number, so only leave a message… blah, blah blah blah! Leave a message at the beep- so long as you aren’t a creep!”_ Dipper laughed idiotically, and was cut off by a beeping sound.

Mabel took a deep breath.

“Uh, hi, Dipper. It’s me.” She paused, and pulled at her collar. It was getting kind of hot, wasn’t it? “Mabel. I’m in Gravity Falls. Um…”

She hung up and went to go check on the snake. It was curled up in the jar. Poor snake. It should just get whatever fate had in store over with.

“Hey,” she said, patting the lid. “I’ve got you. Ford! I got your snake!”

There was a moment of silence, then she heard him respond. Good, he was awake again.

“My snake specimen?”

Mabel giggled. “Yeah, your- your snake specimen…”

She heard his feet thundering up the stairs, and Ford emerged from the vending machine and pelted down the hall.

“Let me see… Gardner?”

“Uh, sure. What do you need him for?”

Ford started to look through his coat. “I need snakeskin.”

Mabel grabbed the jar. “Then why didn’t you say that?!”

“It needs to be recently shed or-”

“You can’t take his skin!”

Ford narrowed his eyes. “Mabel, dear-”

She stuck the jar under her shirt. “No!”

“Mabel, give me the snake!”

She stomped her foot. “I will bring you recently shed snakeskin when he _sheds!_ ”

Ford reached up to massage his temples. “ _Fine,”_ he snapped. “That’s fine.”

_“Disco girl! Coming through!”_

Ford gave her a sharp look and stormed back downstairs. Mabel looked down at her phone. _Dipper Pines._

_“That girl is you!”_

She sent him to voicemail. A moment later, her screen lit up with a text. _Asleep again? :( I promise I’ll answer this time!_

Mabel turned her phone off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Official backstory time! After Weirdmageddon, Dipper and Mabel were kind of town heroes, but Dipper decided to erase the events of Weirdmageddon from most everyone's memory, and put things back to normal. Short version, but hey, there it is.


	5. Shop Wars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of me wanted to edit this more... Most of me just wanted to post it... So here you go! :)

“Yeah, it'll drive alright.” Gideon rapped Mabel’s car on the hood. “Everything should be running just fine. Bring it in later this week for a checkup, though, and shoot call us if anything out of the ordinary happens.” He flashed her a business card, and grinned as she took it. It said _GLEEFUL DISCOUNT AUTOMART AND REPAIR_ in big block letters. Underneath the words, a baby blue car smirked at her. Mabel tucked it into her pocket.

“Thanks.”

His smile widened. “Engine makes any thumping sounds, brakes stall, steering lagging, just let me know, I'll come right on over and check it out.”

Mabel nodded, pulling out her wallet.  “How much-”

Gideon made a shooing motion. “Oh, it's on the house, pumpkin!”

“I couldn't-”

“I insist!” He gave her a cheeky wink. “Just make sure to bring it back for that check up!”

“Uh, sure.” Mabel put her wallet back. “Um… Thanks.”

“Oh, it's my _pleasure!”_

She backed towards the door. “Well, see you.”

Mabel’s next order of business was a new wardrobe. She was hardly going to make her parents ship everything up there, but until she visited, she needed some new stuff. And since Mabel didn't feel like driving into the city with a homicidal car, Gravity Malls it was.

She tried out Edgy on Purpose first. “Hey,” Mabel said when she entered. “Has the wall always said Fort Cash Money?” The person at the counter looked up. “Oh, hey, Robbie!”

He lifted a hand in greeting.

“You work here now?”

“Eh, it's been a few years now. Good college money.”

“Oh, cool. Um, Robbie, I feel kinda stupid for asking this, but do you sell anything pink?”

He nodded his head towards the back of the store. “Multicolor section. It all has skulls and studs, though.”

“Thanks.”

She found an adorable pink skull shirt, and a studded pair of purple boots. She thanked Robbie and wiggled her fingers at him before heading out, and wondered what store to hit up next.

Maybe the food court. _Technically,_ still a bunch of stores.

Once she had her tray of Chinese food, Mabel picked a table and sat down. She had just opened the box when she heard her name.

Mabel looked up in time to see the most beautiful woman in the world sit down in front of her. She jumped.

Pacifica grabbed her hands. “Mabel!”

Mabel blushed furiously, and gave her a shy smile. “Hey.”

Pacifica dropped her hands to grab her chopsticks, and began to stuff Mabel’s food into her mouth.

“You didn't tell me you were in town!”

She had the shocking ability to quickly funnel in food and swallow it before she started talking. This meant she was capable of politely stealing half of Mabel’s lunch over the course of a few sentences.

“It was kind of sudden.” Mabel shrugged. “But I'll be here awhile.”

“Are you going shopping?” Mabel nodded. “You're here _and_ you're going shopping and you didn't even text me?!” Pacifica clasped her hands over her heart. “Do you even love me?”

“Guess not.”

Pacifica motioned to indicate that her heart was breaking. Mabel took back the chopsticks.

“When did you get here?”

“Um, about two weeks,” Mabel said around her food. Pacifica made a face.

“I actually can't believe you.”

Mabel shrugged. “Well, I was just gonna roll in and spend a night and would've tried to grab a coffee with you- nice hotel, by the way-”

“Thanks!”

“But I'm sort of living here now, so I've been, you know, getting that set up.”

“Ooh, where?”

“The Shack.”

Pacifica made another face.

“So like, I'm making it habitable.”

“Good, it's like of gross. Why, though? Did you lose your house or something?”

“I didn't have a house.”

Pacifica looked shocked.

“I'm gonna be helping out Great Uncle Ford, so I’m living there.”

 _“No_ house?”

“Dorm and parents.”

“Wow. You _are_ poor.”

“I'm actually not?”

Pacifica shook her head in disbelief, then took Mabel’s hand. “I don't care what class you are! I'm taking you shopping. Come on.”

She wrenched Mabel up, linking arms with her. Mabel made a grab for her food, but Pacifica was already tossing the box in the trash.

“It's totally great to see you, by the way. You need to text me more!”

“You need to text _me_ more!”

“Pssh. Still your fault. How's rebuilding your house going? Do you need money?”

“I'm not rebuilding it, and I'm not taking your money.”

Pacifica dragged Mabel down the line of stores. “You won't _take_ it, I’d give it to you. It's lying around everywhere. I found a credit card in our living room couch a few weeks ago.”

Mabel snorted.

“This store is really nice.” Pacifica pulled her through the doors of a store that was much too nice for Mabel’s wallet. “Let's get you a changing room. I know some stuff you'd look super cute in!”

A few hours later, Mabel was driving Pacifica home. She was yammering about some party she’d been too, every so often throwing out a name Mabel recognized. Apparently, she’d learned the value of sharing far too well, and Mabel was pretty sure that the money she’d put in for her clothes could have financed a small town.

“So, I said to Grenda-”

“Grenda was there?”

“Oh, yeah, she came with Marius- totally adorable-”

“Marius, or Grenda?”

“Marius _and_ Grenda!”

“Isn’t he the Austrian guy?”

“Yes! Aw, they’re _so_ cute, you’ve met him, right?”

Mabel nodded, and Pacifica started to tell her about the first time _she’d_ met Marius. It sounded vaguely like the plot of a rom-com.

“Hey, would you look at that,” Mabel said as she pulled up outside her house. Just as ridiculously large as always.

“Oh, are we here already?” Pacifica sighed. “I was _just_ getting to the good part- would you like to come in for coffee?”

“I should probably get home. Uncle Ford’s kind of paranoid.”

“Aw, okay.” Pacifica rolled her eyes. “You owe me coffee, though, got that?” She planted a kiss Mabel’s cheek and wiggled her fingers at her, stepping out of the car. The gates opened to let her in, revealing the grand interior, and Pacifica yelled something at her.

Mabel rolled down her window. “What?!”

“Your teeth are really straight!”

Mabel flushed put her car in reverse. Pacifica disappeared into her front gardens, and Mabel took off towards the Mystery Shack. The town suddenly seemed more alive when she drove back through. Lazy Sue was retrieving pies from the diner’s window, and her nails clacked together when she waved to Mabel.

“Coming in for a bite?” she called.

“I’ve got to get home!” she shouted.

Wendy slouched against the Dusk-2-Dawn with Robbie and Tambry. Mabel honked as she passed and Wendy flashed her a grin. Tyler Cutebiker was in the midst of stopping and encouraging a brawl in front of the old biker joint, and Gideon was in the midst of hand washing a car. When Mabel passed, he started jumping and waving. She couldn’t help but laugh a little. Almost everyone in the town was out and about, with only a few exceptions- Soos, Candy, Grenda. Mabel would have to stop by and say hello later.

Funny the town was so active. She wasn’t used to seeing it like this. It was kind of great, a picturesque summer evening, Mabel cruising with her windows down. She’d love to live her life like this.

She rolled up her windows as she turned out of town, and enjoyed the warm silence. She took the road to the Shack, not even feeling dejected a the _Closed- Permanently_ sign. She would have to paint over it. She would have to hang up flyers! The Mystery Shack was back in business, baby!

Mabel smiled to herself, then her car came to a stop, and the color drained from her face.

Another car was parked out front.

She took in a long, cold breath, and told herself to just park safely. Just park safely. She braked, pulled out the keys, and opened the door.

A really, _really_ nice car. Navy blue. Long and low, old fashioned.

_Great Uncle Ford is dead, government agents, bad news about someone in the family-_

Mabel turned and ran up the rotting porch. She pulled at the door. Locked, duh.

“Great Uncle Ford?” she called, knocking quickly, then took off for the other side of the house. All the heat in the air seemed to have vanished, and her breath felt far too light. “Great Uncle Ford!”

That entrance was locked, too. She knocked, then knocked harder, then kicked at it.

“Great Uncle _Ford!”_

She hit the door, and felt it shake, but it did not open. She backed up down the steps, and readied herself for a charge.

“Great Uncle Ford, I will _break_ down this door-”

The door swung open, and he peered out.

“Oh,” he said. “There you are.”

Mabel slumped over with relief, a grinning nervously. “Yeah. Sorry, I was worried. Is someone visiting you?”

Ford frowned. “What?”

Mabel’s heartbeat sped back up. “But, the car outside-”

“I _knew_ I heard a sound!” Ford turned and disappeared into the house. “Let me get my crossbow! Quickly now, inside!”

“Um, Uncle Ford-”

“Hey!”

Mabel turned, and squinted at the forest. A figure was approaching. She could feel her legs shaking.

“Great Uncle Ford-”

He poked his head out, crossbow in hand. “What-”

“Hey! Hey, Mabel!”

Mabel went still.

They waved, and jogged over, and she almost took a step back. She thought he might collide with her, but he came to a stop, and reached up to fix his hair.

“Hey!” he said again, and Mabel let out all the breath she’d been holding, because he looked exactly like himself, he looked so much older and he hadn’t aged a day-

Dipper grinned, and before she could move, he hugged her so hard she felt her ribs crack.

“Well.” Ford lowered his crossover. His eyes were narrow, but he was starting to smile. “The prodigal son returns.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, when the last episode came out, I watched it the day after with some friends at lunch, and when we got home, my sister watched it on the big screen with me. Only thing is, our (conservative) family is visiting, and their kids wanted to watch it too. They were super into it but you should have SEEN the face their mom was making. She was horrified. And disgusted. It was incredible.
> 
> Meanwhile who else cried at the memories the Valentines one holy shit


	6. Homecoming 2: The Prodigal Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I let myself keep that prodigal son line. It sounds so stupid. omg.  
> My copy of Dip and Mabel's Guide to Mysteries and Non-stop Fun came today. Apparently my dad was planning to get it for me for Christmas, but I beat him to ordering it, haha. Victory!  
> I have a window of light over the break, but it's sandwiched between finals and then two shows I'm doing. I'm acting and designing back to back, plus directing a one act, which should be pretty fun, right? I don't need my lunches or time after classes anyway.  
> Also, guess who has tickets to see the new Star Wars on the 17th?  
> Actually, I've had lots of stuff happen since the last update I wouldn't mind ranting about, so that'll be in the notes at the end if you care.

Dipper laughed, looking a little uncomfortable, and nodded. “Yeah, guess he has. Did you guys just get home?”

“I did,” Mabel said, her voice coming out without meaning too. Shock was washing over her like the summer sun. She looked over at Ford.

“I’m home all day, every day,” Ford told Dipper matter-of-factly, without any trace of shame. He practically sounded proud.

“Yeah,” Mabel scowled. “You point a gun at me every time I come home.”

Ford waved his weapon. “It’s a _crossbow-_ ”

The crossbow fired into the air, and Mabel yelped and jumped back.

“Um, maybe don’t wave that around?” Dipper smiled nervously. “Hey, I have an idea, let’s all go inside.”

“Good idea, Dipper!” Ford nodded eagerly, and hurried back into the house. Mabel heard something crash. Dipper turned towards her.

“Mabel-”

“We’re going inside now, Dipper,” she reminded him, and started into the house. After a moment, he followed her.

“Thanks for calling me,” he said. “It was a nice surprise, especially when you said you were here. I was actually looking to go on vacation. We’ve just finished filming the new season. I’m kind of supposed to be outlining the new one. We’ve been greenlit for another.”

“Wowza.”

“Yeah, cool stuff. You could totally help me storyboard sometime, you’re such a good artist.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I got here maybe an hour ago, and it didn’t seem like anyone was home, so I decided to go for a walk.”

“How did you know I was here?” Mabel asked. She heard another crash from down the hall.

“I mean… I just kind of… assumed.”

Ford stuck his head out of the kitchen. “Lunch!”

“It’s dinnertime, Uncle Ford,” Mabel sighed.

“Dinner!” Ford clapped. “Even better.”

Dipper opened his mouth to speak, and Mabel walked into the kitchen. Ford was setting out paper plates of microwaved food. Mabel took a burrito and sat down.

“How’ve you been?” Dipper tried again, putting a hot dog on his plate.

“I’ve been well,” Mabel answered, then stuffed her face.

“So have I,” Ford added, sitting down. “ _Mabel’s_ been helping me with my research you know. She’s very bright.”

“Uh, yeah, she is.” Dipper looked at her in surprise, and Mabel made sure her burrito got all of the attention it deserved.

Ford seemed unpleased with that response, but did not know how to deal with it. “Yes,” he nodded, and chewed his lip thoughtfully.

“I’ve been cleaning up the Shack,” Mabel finally said. “I’m reopening it.”

“Yes.” Ford furrowed his brow. “You’re doing that too.”

“I’m doing that more.”

“Hmmph.” Ford shot a look at Dipper. “How long will you be here, Dipper?”

“Um, I’m not sure yet.” He shrugged. “Maybe a week? Does that work for you?” Mabel didn’t answer him.

“The longer, the better, I say! Has Mabel filled you in on what we’re working on?”

“N-”

“I’ve crossed over into some fascinating stuff- no doubt she’s told you-”

“I-”

“Right now I’m looking into testing more of my unstable theories, and finding the errors in my research, but Mabel will have told you all of that when she called you-”

“I actually-”

“And I’ve been crossing some information over, to form new hypotheses-”

“I!” Dipper raised his voice. “Actually _didn’t_ know that, Uncle Ford, I’m sorry.”

Ford looked shocked, and immediately turned to Mabel. “You didn’t _tell_ him?”

Mabel shook her head.

“But you said you would _call_ him-”

Dipper’s expression shifted ever so slightly.

“He couldn’t pick up,” she explained around her burrito. She swallowed. “I left him a voicemail.”

His face fell.

Ford turned back to Dipper. “Did she?!”

“Yeah.” Dipper nodded, looking distraught. He was staring at Mabel, but she refused to look up from her food. “She did.”

“Good.” Ford folded his arms, pleased. “I was worried we might have some _problems_.”

“I keep my promises, Uncle Ford,” she said sharply. “If you'll excuse me, I think I'm finished.” Mabel stood up and dropped her burrito in the trash can, ignoring Dipper’s puppy dog eyes.

She left the kitchen and started up the staircase. She needed to get to bed. She just needed to get to her room. She just needed a nap.

She had just closed the attic door when it opened again.

“Hey, Mabel, can I talk to you?”

Mabel jumped, glaring at Dipper. “Can't you knock?”

“... Sorry.” He looked around. “So, you've been cleaning up?”

“Uh huh.”

_Please get out leave leave leave_

“That's great. May I?” Dipper gestured to her bed. Mabel nodded, and he sat down. “Are all your favorite moldy spots still there?”

“What?”

Dipper pointed to the ceiling.

“No.” Mabel shook her head. “It was their time.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Just mold.”

“Ford says you've been helping him out, too.”

Mabel nodded. “I get his groceries. I catch snakes. Anything for an old man.”

Dipper glanced over at the jar. “Like, that snake?”

“Yeah.”

“I'm not sure a jar’s a good place for a snake.”

“I know. But I can't let it go till it sheds.”

“Right. You fixed the window.” Mabel didn't answer. Dipper looked around, at her boxes, at her old posters, at his shoes. “Hey, Mabel.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Great Uncle Ford explained everything. Most things. I don't know. He told me what's going on.”

“Cool.”

“So the Shack is yours now?”

“Uh huh. Look.” Mabel headed over to her desk, picked up her important stuff folder- it was labeled _IMPORTANT_ and bedazzled- and found the deed. “Here's the deed.”

Dipper looked at it. Then he smiled at her.

“That's great. I'm glad. You've always loved this place.”

Mabel wondered if she was breathing. Did this mean everything was okay? Was that what Dipper was saying?

He sighed and leaned back, running a hand through his hair. Mabel could see his marks that made stars. He seemed to have stopped caring about his personal constellation.

“You know,” Dipper closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I was… I was really happy when you called.”

Mabel didn't say anything. She couldn't talk if she couldn't breathe.

“I don't know. I thought maybe- and when you said you were here-”

He stopped there.

“Great Uncle Ford really cares about you,” Mabel told him. She didn’t even feel her mouth form the words.

“Yeah.”

“It’s good to have you here,” she added, without much meaning. Dipper nodded.

“Anyway,” Dipper went on. “Which room is mine?”

“... What?”

Dipper went red. “Um, I mean, I could get a room at Northwest’s, or stay with Wendy, or, I dunno, someone-”

Mabel’s eyes went wide, and she could hear her blood rushing. Sure, she’d called Dipper, but she hadn’t even thought _this_ far ahead. She didn’t have anything planned for him! He wasn’t even supposed to be here.

Mabel bit her lip.

“I could always pitch a tent in the woods!” Dipper grinned. “Yeah! I would just need some leaf blowers and maybe a gun-”

“No, no!” Mabel grinned. “I’ve kinda been thinking of moving rooms anyways!”

“Oh. Are you sure?”

“It’s totally fine! Besides, I’m actually not even gonna be here tonight.”

Dipper frowned. “You aren’t? Why not?”

“I’ve, uh, got plans with a friend.” Mabel smiled. “Super important, ultra girly plans. Nothing you’d be into. I was just getting ready to leave when you-”

Dipper smacked himself in the forehead. “And now you’ll be late! Jeez, I’m sorry Mabel-”

“It’s fine! It’s completely fine! I, like, forgot to pack, so, I was already probably gonna be late. Plus, my car’s a wreck! I would never have made it on time. Let me just-” Mabel opened a box and grabbed the first wad of clothing that caught her eye, plus a sweater. “Voila! Packed. Kinda. Can you feed the snake tonight? I normally make Ford do it but he’s so forgetful.”

“Yeah, sure.” Dipper stood, and shoved her towards the door. “Don’t be late! Go have fun, I’ll still be here when you’re back.”

“Haha, yeah.” Mabel grinned. “You sleep in there tonight! See ya!”

She made a mad dash for the front door, slammed it shut, and collapsed on the porch.

Now that she could breathe, her chest was heaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I've just kind of been eating cookies and napping all day. I fell asleep in an emotional documentary about dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan. Then I had to leave early so I missed the powerful ending where all the dolphins died, I just got to see the part where everyone was stabbing them and the ocean turned red. The movie is called The Cove, and the parts I was awake for were very interesting and impactful! I learned a lot about the dolphin trade.  
> -I had this substitute in my Comp class and he told us he could help us find our power animal though a guided thought process? Mines a python, apparently.  
> -IS THE NEW PHINEAS AND FERB SEASON ON NETFLIX??? According to my family on the couch? Finally?  
> -nvm I'm gonna go watch this with them i really hope you enjoyed this update and more to follow soon buy gold bYEE


	7. Gideon Rises

Grenda was somewhere in Europe and Candy wasn’t answering her phone. Mabel knew Pacifica was out of the picture, courtesy of her ridiculous parents, so it looked like she would have to do the undoable: sleep at Wendy’s house.

“You can’t, man,” Wendy said.

“I can too,” Mabel told her. “Now lock up this store and get in my car.”

Wendy slouched back in her chair. “It’s not possible.”

“I will do it!” Mabel slammed her fist against the Dusk-2-Dawn counter. “I will sleep there, Wendy!”

Wendy shot up. “Don’t make so much noise! Ma and Pa’ll flip!”

Mabel narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms. “Okay, fine, I’ll pipe down if you let me sleep over.”

Wendy shook her head. “Mabel, I have three brothers, my cousin might be coming in, _plus_ my dad lives there. My _dad,_ Mabel.”

“I like your dad,” Mabel said. “He’s fun.”

Wendy pinched her nose. “No, Mabel. No.”

“Alright, fine.” Mabel glared at Wendy. “I’ll figure something else out. Happy?”

“Your sleep cycle will thank me.”

Mabel sighed. “Well, thanks anyway.” She headed out of the store, giving Wendy a farewell smile. Maybe she could just break into Grenda’s house, or just show up at Candy’s. Mabel smacked her forehead and started down the street. That would be _so_ rude of her.

Well, she would just get a room at Northwest’s. First, though, she would need her wallet. She headed over to her car to grab it. And, just her luck, it was nowhere to be found.

Mabel pulled out her phone and called Pacifica. After a few rings, she answered.

“Hey!”

“Hey!” Mabel sat down on her trunk. “I'm so sorry, but I think I left my wallet in one of your bags. Do you have it?”

“Gimme a sec-” Pacifica yelled for someone, then there was a pause. “Yeah, it's right here. Sorry about that.”

“It's okay. Do you think I could come get it?”

“Yeah, totally- wait, no. We’re having dinner with someone here. Can you come get it tomorrow?”

“Sure, wanna make lunch out of it?”

“Totes! I gotta go change, Mom says our guests’ll get here soon. See you then!”

She hung up. Mabel looked around, then went to get in her car. Maybe she had some spare change in her glove compartment. That could bribe Wendy, at least. She opened it to check.

On top of her emergency lip gloss was a paper. And on it, a phone number written in glitter pen. Mabel picked it up. It also featured hearts and an intrusive fragrance.

Mabel frowned. How has this gotten in there? The only person ever in her car was her. Except-

“Gideon,” she realized, and sniffed the paper. Sure enough, the distinct scent of baby powder and hair gel lay underneath the loud perfume. Mabel started to crumple the number up, then paused.

Would Gideon let her stay at his house? Most definitely. Would that be a good idea? Probably not.

But it was also her only option, unless she wanted to go back to the Shack.

Mabel thought it over, then started to feel sick. Before she could chicken out, she dialed the number.

The phone rang a few times, then came an answering machine- Bud telling her she'd reached the Gleeful residence, call this number for the AutoMart- then a beep. So Gideon had given her his home number? How sweet.

Mabel cleared her throat. “Hey, this is Mabel. I was wondering if-”

Before she could finish, there was an audible click, and Gideon answered with much gusto. “Hi Mabel!”

“Hi,” Mabel said. “I-”

“What’re you up to?”

“Actually I was-”

“Me, I'm not up to much!”

“Great, I-”

“Is your car doing alright then?”

“Sure. But-”

“ _Soo_ , why are you calling, hon?” he asked, with a sweetness that clearly expected a romantic reason.

“Um,” Mabel said. “Well, I’m sorta stranded for the night, and just my luck, everyone with a couch is out of town or something, so do you have a guest room or anything?”

There was a long pause.

“Hello?”

“Stranded, you say?”

“Yeah. My… room is being repaired,” she lied. “My wallet’s with a friend so I can't get a hotel room. If you don't, it's fine, I’ll just-”

“Sure, I should be able to work something out! Do you know where my house is?”

“Nope.”

Gideon gave her the address. Mabel hung up as he said goodbye and groaned. This was a recipe for disaster. “Can we have a sleepover, Gideon?” What was she thinking?

She stepped on the gas, and drove to his house, cursing herself. Why couldn't she have just shared the room with Dipper?

Mabel parked outside of Gideon’s house. Last time she'd been here, she'd been much, _much_ shorter, and now she may as well be seeing it for the first time. It was neatly painted, and kind of cute. He had a pretty big garden. It was bare, but the grass was neatly trimmed, and there was some nice shrubbery. On her way in, she stopped to read the sign by his door. _Pardon this Garden._

Mabel smiled at the garden. “You are officially pardoned.” She raised a hand to knock on the door.

Bud Gleeful answered.

“Why, Mabel!” He grinned. “What a delight! Gideon, Mabel’s here!”

“Hi, Bud.”

“Oh, where are my _manners?_ Come in, come in!” Bud ushered her inside. It looked like the most stereotypical grandmother’s house in the world.

“Thanks, Mr. Gleeful,” Mabel slipped off her shoes, noticing a neat row by the door. She moved them into the row and paused, noticing a painting on the wall. She thought she might have seen it before. “Nice painting.”

“Well, thank you! Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine.” Mabel glanced around. As unsettling as Gideon’s presence could be, the lack of it was possibly worse. He appeared, as if summoned, at the end of the hall. He grinned and waved at Mabel.

“There you are! I just finished setting up an air mattress!”

“Thank you.” Mabel decided this was officially a bad idea, possibly one of her worst.

“Would you like a seat?” Gideon grabbed onto her wrist and hauled her into the living room. Not sure what else to do, Mabel sat down. “How have you been? I just ordered us some pizza, I hope you like veggies!”

“Oh, sure!”

Gideon pulled her down onto the couch and grabbed a remote, clicking it earnestly. “Dad? Did you turn of the television?”

Bud shouted something from the kitchen. Gideon rolled his eyes and started to click through the channels. “There was this cute little movie on, I had it all ready to go, oh well-”

“It’s fine, really I just-”

Gideon shushed her. Mabel groaned inside her head. “Oh, look, here! Warlock of Odd is on!”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Bud emerged from the kitchen with a tray. “Would you kids like some snacks? We’ve got popcorn, apple juice-”

Gideon jumped up, grabbed the tray, and shooed Bud from the room. Trudy Wreath started to sing about a land someplace over a rainbow. Gideon came over and sat down next to Mabel again. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

_Why did I do this why did I do this why did I do this._

Mabel did her best to give all her attention to the movie, refusing to even look at Gideon. It was sort of effective, but she could still feel his eyes burning into her. She was careful about all the food and drink- Mabel had seen the havoc love potion could cause, and would _not_ let it touch her. She made sure to keep her hands folded neatly in her lap, and to sit a respectable distance (as far as possible) from Gideon.

The movie came to a close. Gideon turned off the television.

“Well, what do you want to do now?”

Mabel’s mind went blank.

“Mabel? Honeybear?”

She faked a yawn. “Oh, you know, it's been a long day. I heard an air mattress mentioned?”

“You aren't hungry?”

Mabel glanced at her untouched food. “No,” she said, and her stomach made a noise of protest. “I'm actually- feeling sick. I should go to bed.”

Gideon nodded in agreement, furrowing his brow. “That's no good at all. Do you want some-”

“Sleep! Good idea. It's bed time! Where do I-”

Gideon pointed and started to stand. Mabel dashed off in the direction.

“Over here?”

Gideon nodded and opened a door.

“Thanks! Don't come in. I'm going to change.”

Mabel slammed the door and relaxed. The room had a nice, old lady smell. There was an air mattress, a blanket- everything she needed. Mabel changed into her pajamas.

“Are you done?” Gideon asked. Mabel sighed and opened the door. He was standing in the same place, now with his arms full. “I got you a hot water bottle, and a bowl if you get sick, and here's some-”

“That's fine, I just need rest. Thanks for the bed, you’re a real pal.”

“I-”

“Night!”

Mabel shut the door, and turned the lock on the knob. After a moment, she heard Gideon walk away. Mabel collapsed onto the air mattress. It wasn't as much fun as it could have been. The blanket was Gideon’s, and it was hot out, so she moved it and just laid down.

Mabel yawned, and then she was out. When she opened her eyes, the world was gray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super happy with this chapter but it filled all my needs (bring Gideon back into the picture since he'll probably play a significant role in this thing, get Mabel out of the Shack) and it was kind of fun to write, so... :D I'll update soon, I hope! You can probably all guess what's coming.


	8. Dreamscaper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to formally apologize for Lots of Stuff Happening, because in this chapter, Lots of Stuff Happens, and I probably could have planned it out better. Like, maybe the first part could have been in the last chapter, for starters. Good job, me. Furthermore, is isn't edited at all. I'm so sorry.
> 
> I cried four times on February 15, and that was just during the finale. We were on a road trip so my family streamed it and used my phone as a wifi hotspot to watch it. thank the god that my family watches it too. 
> 
> anyways i'm excited to use some of our new finale stuff in this fic's world.

This was definitely wrong.

It was just like before, when she was asleep and had seen the bird slowing down. It was all eerily familiar.

Mabel sat up warily. Was it just normal darkness? What was going on?

_WELL WELL WELL_

Mabel jumped up, nearly falling over as she spun around. The whole world wasn't dark. He was glowing-

_WELL WELL!_

Golden against the whitewashed world, but his edges were blurring-

“You!”

_ME?_

Mabel covered her ears. “Stop that!”

_S T O P  W H A T ?_

Mabel screamed and picked up the mattress. “Where are you? Where? _Where-”_

There was a crash and Mabel jumped. The world was gray, but it was normal now, like nighttime, and she was still in Gideon’s-

Holy crap.

She’s knocked over a lamp. She’s knocked over one of his lamps.

Mabel squeaked and covered her mouth. Was it broken? _Please don’t be broken-_

_PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE_

She felt her hair standing up, her shoulders grew tense in their joints and at the base of her neck. He was behind her. He was behind her. He was right behind her.

_I’M RIGHT_

Mabel felt frozen.

_BEHIND_

She turned slowly

_YOU!_

There was nothing there. It was nighttime. That was all. That was all she could _see_ -

_SEE?_

Mabel backed up against the wall. She could see almost all of the room, but some of the shadows were so dark- she felt completely on edge- her heart had stopped or was beating too fast- was she breathing or not? She couldn’t tell-

It was dead silent. No one was here.

Except for her.

She looked from the window to the door. She’d never been so unnerved. Her head was churning out the same words, in sync with her pulse- _no- no- no- no- no-_

There wasn’t anyone here.

She couldn’t move. Her chest was heaving.

No one at all. She was hyperventilating. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t-

 _Out._ She had to get out. She had to get back to the Shack. Mabel dashed out of the room, then down the hall and out the front door, and dove into her car. It wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t

Mabel started, and looked down. Her breathing slowed. Normal, night-y colors. She turned on the lights in her car- normal, lit up colors. Nothing was gray.

There was a knock on her door. Mabel yelped and looked over.

Oh. It was just Gideon. She opened the door.

“Uh, hey,” she said, trying to act natural. “What's up?”

“Nothing much. Are you heading out? You left all your stuff inside.”

“Uh… no, sorry about that. Did I wake you up?”

“Oh, don't worry about it, I was just finishing off the popcorn. Then you sort of sprinted by. So are you planning on sitting in your car for the rest of the night.”

Mabel smiled weakly, and stood up. “I don't know. It does have good heating.”

Gideon hurried to open the door for her, and Mabel stepped back inside. The television was still on.

“What’re you watching?” Gideon shrugged. “Mind if I join you?”

He grinned. “Be my guest!”

Mabel sat down in front of the couch and hugged her knees to her chest.

Gideon cleared his throat. “So, mind telling me what all that was? If not, fine by me, hun, really.”

Mabel shrugged. “I don’t know. Bad dream, I guess.” She looked down at her hands, and pressed her index fingers and thumbs together. “I dunno.”

She was jerked out of her staring by a hand on her shoulder. Mabel flinched and looked up at Gideon.

He pulled his hand back. “Listen, Mabel I know we- have our history, but if you ever need a confidant or someone to talk to, just give me a call, you got that? First ring and I’ll pick up.”

Mabel smiled. Strangely enough, that was a little reassuring. Gideon was one of the most reliable things in Gravity Falls, and she knew there was a good person inside of him.

“Thanks, Gideon,” she said, and made sure to add, “You’re a good friend.”

He nodded in agreement. “Want some popcorn?”

“Please.”

* * *

 

Three days later, Mabel bolted out of a white bed in a white room, and grabbed the nearest nurse’s arm.

“My car!” she shouted.

The nurse forced her back down. “Your car’s fine, it’s in the shop.”

“... The shop?” Mabel stood back up. “What happened?”

“You ran it off the road.”

Mabel clenched her fists.

She’d fallen asleep at the wheel. She’d only just left the Shack. “Did my brother find me?”

“Yes, he’s outside-”

Mabel headed straight for the door. Sure enough, Dipper was sitting outside. He stood up the second her saw her.

“Mabel! You’re okay!”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine. How far away from the Shack was I?”

Dipper frowned in confusion. “I dunno, not far.”

“Do you have your car?”

“Yeah-”

Mabel grabbed his arm. “Let’s go shopping, then drop me off there.”

“What?”

“It’s important, okay? Trust me on something for once.”

The words hit him like a slap. “... To do what?”

“Go for a _hike._ ”

“Alone? In the woods? _Here?”_

Mabel nodded. “For _once._ ”

Dipper sighed, and rolled his eyes. “Okay, but there better not be a vampire or anything.”

Mabel scowled at him and folded her arms. Dipper winced.

“Sorry. Fine, let’s go.”

Mabel pulled him down the hall before any doctors could stop her. She made him wait in the car while she ran into the convenience store. Now was _not_ the time for a Dipper-Wendy reunion.

“Sorry, Wendy, I’m in a hurry,” she called as she raced in. “Let’s see, juice boxes- meat?”

Mabel glanced up and was put off by the woman at the counter. Not Wendy at all. A very translucent old lady. Okay. Great. She grabbed a bag of corn chips and some salami.

“Do you have any cheese?”

“Aisle two, dear.”

Mabel grabbed some cheese and dropped her goods on the counter, then hurried out to the car.

“Credit card,” she told Dipper.

“Seriously?”

“Just give it to me.”

Dipper rolled his eyes and handed over his credit card. Mabel raced back inside, and the ghost started to ring her up as slowly as she possibly could. Mabel drummed her fingers on the counter, and finally the woman handed her a bag. Mabel took it and dashed back to the car.

“Credit card?” Dipper asked. Mabel gave it back, and he started the car back up. “So, are you going to tell me what this is all about or no?”

“Nope.”

“Well, it must be important, because you’re making eye contact with me again.”

Mabel looked very pointedly out the window. “Nice car.”

“Okay, we’re back to subject changing and not looking at me. Cool. It’s cool.”

Mabel sighed angrily and looked back at him. “Dipper, I’m kind of in a hurry. This is something that’s important to me, okay?”

Dipper nodded. “Okay.” He sped up in no time at all, they were on the road to the Shack. Soon, a tow truck from _Gleeful Automart_ came into view. Dipper pulled over, and Mabel hopped out of the car. She waved to Bud, the driver.

“Hey!”

Bud glanced over. “Oh, hello there, Mabel! Feeling better?”

“Much. Are you just picking my car up?”

“Sure am.”

“Okay, thank you!”

Bud winked. “Anytime! We’re having a big sale this weekend, you should stop by!”

“Maybe! See you around, Bud!”

“See you!”

Mabel glanced towards the woods. Her car had gone pretty far off the road, and looked pretty banged up- it made her heart ache. But for now, she was going to have to trust Gideon to deal with that. She hurried back to Dipper’s car and grabbed her bag.

“Do you have my phone?”

He pulled it out of his pocket, and took her hand when she reached for it.

“Be careful, okay?”

Mabel made a noise of exasperation. “ _Duh._ ”

“I mean it.”

“I’ll call you if I need you to pick me up, just come get me here.”

Dipper didn’t seem content with that, but nodded. The car did not move as Mabel started off into the woods. They’d almost gotten her car out, but it had left a nice, clear path for her to follow.

So which way had she been going?

Over the past few days, Mabel had had a sleeping problem whenever she left the Shack. It wasn’t like she was narcoleptic, she just got tired really, really quickly. She was having trouble sleeping nights, so she’d just blamed that at first. Now, she was getting kind of suspicious. And what’s more, she had a hunch.

Mabel glanced up at the sky. The sun had started to set, and she remembered that she was in a hospital gown. That was just great. Too late to turn back, though. The clouds were turning all sorts of colors, and it was beautiful and awful.

Mabel shook her head to clear it, and swatted a mosquito before continuing. She wasn’t sure where she was headed, but hopefully if she kept going to same way, she’d find whatever she was looking for.

But she got sweatier and sweatier, and her legs felt like they were burning. Finally, Mabel sat down on the dry ground.

“Come on!” she shouted, looking back up at the sky. It was dark now, and the stars were appearing. “You’re out here! You are! You’ve been looking for me, right? Well, _here I am!_ ”

Nothing. Mabel was so tired.

She closed her eyes. It was getting darker when she opened them, almost gray, but not quite.

She stood up. “Okay, we’ll do this the hard way. I’m coming.”

She started to walk. The world went gray, and she jumped and looked up. She could see something ahead. A faint glow.

The night colors came back. Mabel clenched her jaw and headed for the light She wasn’t sure how much longer she walked, but when she looked up, the moon had changed position. Finally, something appeared in the distance.

“A rock,” she said, completely unimpressed. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. That’s what you led me to?”

She walked towards it. It wasn’t just a rock. It was some sort of statue, nearly buried in the ground. She could only see the tip, mossy with age- a long, thin rectangle, and a stick-like arm. Mabel grimaced and got down on her knees.

“Fine. _Fine._ Whatever. You better not eat my hands or something.”

She started to dig. Most of the coverings came away easily. Dead leaves, pine needles, twigs, and mulch. Then came the dead and the dirt. It was dry and dusty, and got underneath her nails. Then was the _real_ dirt, full of sharp rocks, and packed tight. Mabel finally found a flat enough rock to help her.

Finally, she’d unearthed all of the statue. She smashed the flat rock against Bill’s stone eye, then flung it away.

Mabel picked the statue up and sat it down outside of the hole, then emptied out her bag and flattened it so she wouldn’t have to deal with anymore sticks deciding to snag on her paper gown or slice up her leg.

“Okay,” Mabel said. “It’s like, twelve. Let’s have lunch.” She laid out all the goods from the convenience store. “You seem like a meat kind of guy, so I got some salami. And since you like triangles, I got some chips. And apple juice is kind of golden, plus it tastes good. And this is Smile Dip. It’s banned in America, but you can still get it here. It’s a safety hazard and probably has drugs in it, you’d maybe like it. And the store had one of these little bottles filled with shiny tin foil. They sell them and say that it’s gold. So, I bought gold.”

Mabel folded her arms. A breeze ruffled her gown.

“We need to talk. You’re, like, haunting my dreams or something. And that’s not cool. So, are you still here?”

She picked up a carton of apple juice and poked the straw into it. “The juice is a little warm, but it tastes good. Hey, Dipper’s in town. _That_ always gets people excited. Grunkle Ford even came out of the basement and stuff. Come on. Ford? Dipper? Nothing?”

Mabel wasn’t sure what else to do. This had seemed like a good idea, but now it was after midnight, and she was sitting in the woods wearing nothing but paper, talking to a piece of rock.

She reached forward to link her pinkie with one of the stiff, statue hands. “Promise I won’t tell Dipper or Ford if you come talk to me. We can just have a chat. You, me. You can rip out random animal’s teeth or something. _Aand_ , I won’t spray paint you in the eye. So, truce?”

There was silence. Mabel swallowed nervously, and moved her hand to shake the statue’s. As if cued, a huge gust of wind started, and all the trees began to shake. Pine needles landed in her hair, and she yelped. The sky overhead was clouding, and the air felt electric.

The wind stopped and it started to rain.

“Fuck,” Mabel said. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m in paper. _Paper._ Is this your master plan? Revenge from the grave? Get Mabel Pines drenched while she’s pretty much in the nude in a forest? Wow. Ingenious _._ Should I leave? Is that what you’re trying to say, huh? Well, too bad. I’m staying. And I’m gonna take a nap. So you know what? Hit me up or something. Okay, night now.”

Mabel repositioned herself so she could lean comfortably on the statue. Even though the summer rain was warm, it felt oddly cool.

She closed her eyes. It was raining, and it was probably one in the morning.

Mabel fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tune in next time for answers and even more questions. does that make sense? no. no it does not. sorry.  
> I may start posting the doodles and sketches I do for this fic, would that be of interest to anyone? also, just a heads up- it might not become explicit for awhile but this does in fact feature trans dipper! it may not show up for awhile but i'm pumped because it's my favorite headcanon tbh.  
> alsO THE FINALE.


	9. Homecoming 3: The Lunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would first like to apologize, as I wrote this at 2 in the morning on an iPad, and have only looked over it a little bit.  
> second, i would like to apologize again, because The Asshole™ is back.
> 
> this chapter's a short one, i think. also yeah, you can probably expect more song lyrics later on. mostly stars.

_ That day we walked a little deeper  _

_ Breathless and too alive to sleep  _

_ You always said I was a dreamer  _

_ But now I know who's dreaming deep  _

_ You took me to the woods to show me something  _

_ But I'll turn my face away _

_ -"The Woods" Stars _

* * *

 

Mabel had never felt so well rested. This was a wonderful, in bed at eight and sleeping in till eleven sort of feeling. Her whole body felt sore and soft, and the world was hazy and dawn-colored. She looked up at the sky, blinking crust from her eyes. It was a pretty shade of white.

Not white. The world was muted again. And more importantly, Mabel wasn't alone. She could tell.

She sat up slowly, looking around the clearing first. No gnomes. Then, her eyes narrowed, she looked at Bill's statue.

The world was hazy. She looked at him suspiciously. The world wasn't hazy. He was glowing. Of course he was.

And then he materialized, like he was rising up to the surface of the stone, bubbling up like some witch’s spell, and froze.

_ "B O O !" _

Mabel blinked, unimpressed, and lifted a hand. "Hey."

He didn’t move from the statue. "Did you miss me? Admit it! You did! Aw, don't be embarrassed, it was obvious. Came wandering the wood, all for  _ mee _ !"

Now that was an unfair assumption, and Mabel was starting to get hot in the face from sheer irritation. She did  _ not _ care about Bill. "Excuse me, mister,  _ you're _ the one who's been fucking with my sleep schedule."

Bill seemed shocked. "Me? Ruin a sleep schedule? I wouldn't wake up a fly." He still hadn't moved. Seriously? He wasn't even going to get up?

"Fine," Mabel said, standing. "But dude, it's a little rude to make someone crash their car in the woods just to be a jerk." So he wasn’t going to move at all? What an ass.

"Well,” he said cheekily, “being rude is the job description."

"I'll be off then."

Mabel turned to leave, then looked back. Bill was still flat on the face of the statue.

"Oh," she said, realization dawning on her. Of  _ course _ he wasn’t moving. "Oh, I get it. You're stuck!"

"What?"

Mabel giggled. "You're- you're stuck to the- that's hilarious!"

"It is not!"

“That is too good!” Mabel gave into her laughter, falling back onto the ground. "You're glued to a piece of rock!"

"It's not glue!"

She clutched at her sides. "And thus, the world is saved!"

"Not yet, it isn't!"

Mabel stopped laughing and looked at him. He was glowing red.

That did it. She fell forward laughing, then sat back up, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry it's just- it's a little hard to take you seriously when you're-" Mabel sniggered.

"Stuck. The word you're looking for is stuck."

"Nah. You're like- a stamp! On a statue envelope!"

"What?"

"Or- or- oh my gosh, you're like a sticker.” Mabel beamed. “That's  _ great _ ."

"I fail to see the greatness."

"Everyone likes stickers!" She hit his top hat playfully. "Bill! You're finally likable!"

" _ E X C U S E  M E ! _ " He was glowing red again. "H A V E  Y O U  F O R G O T T E N  T H A T  T H E  L A S T  T I M E  W E  S A W  E A C H O T H E R  I  W A S -"

Mabel giggled. "Not superglued to a rock in a forest?"

"It's not glue! I- what are you wearing?"

Mabel glanced down, and realized some of her gown was falling apart. She pulled it back into place. "That's just a hospital gown."

"A what now?"

"I told you, I crashed my car." Bill looked at her for a moment. Mabel picked up a juice box. "You've been pulling me into the Mindscape. I kind of fell asleep at the wheel."

"You were driving?!"

Mabel pointed at him triumphantly. "I knew it was you!" She had a long drink of apple juice. "Did you see I bought you some gold? Did I remember that right?"

"That gold is not real."

"Sorry. Apple juice?"

"I-"

Mabel shoved her apple juice into his eye. Bill screeched, and she pulled it back. "Did I get that wrong? Is that not your mouth?"

Bill screwed his eye shut. "That really hurt!"

"Did it really? You're a one dimensional dream shape."

"Demon."

"Piece of geometry." Mabel, slurped up some more apple juice. "One time, in my sophomore year of high school, I was taking this geometry test and there was a triangle with points B, I, and L. I nearly peed myself, I thought it was the funniest shit." She set her juice box down. "Ah, you're getting mad again."

"Am I?"

"You're turning red. You'd be a great mood ring. Okay, I'll go into my serious mode. Let's talk business. What's with the Mindscape mumbo-jumbo?"

There was a pop, and Bill opened his eye. "Can't a buddy say hi to a buddy when they come into town?" 

He said it like he wanted to strangle her.

"Are we buddies now? After what happened last time we hung out?"

"Ah, yes," Bill said wistfully. "When I was going to kill one of you."

"I was thinking more about the invading Uncle's head part, honestly. Who was it?"

"Your uncle?"

"No, did you pick who you were gonna off?"

Bill looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"Shooting star," he finally said. 

"Uh-huh?"

He might have winked, or just blinked. "Ding dong, hello? I'm Bill, from Endess Hell, we give out free death, despair, and disassembled molecules and you're our biiiiig winner!"

"Hold up a second," Mabel said. "You hesitated. Just now." She frowned at him. He'd sounded weird when he spoke. Like he wasn't oozing with arrogant jerkiness. But did it really matter what name he said? Couldn’t he have just picked one of them on the spot? Or maybe he’d forgotten, but that seemed unlikely. Unless- "Waitwaitwait. You didn't know who I was."

Bill winced. "That's not entirely true."

"Aw, seriously?"

"You cut your hair! And got tall! And you're not wearing a shooting star  _ or _ a sweater! You're not yourself!"

"I'm not myself? Think Dipper would walk through a forest in some random direction wearing  _ paper _ with lunch for you?"

"Not that specifically. Maybe he'd put on his hat first."

"Oh my god, the hat? He hasn't worn that thing in years."

"Oh."

"We're getting off track again.” Mabel moved so that she was facing Bill head on. “Mindscape summoning thing?"

Bill looked at her. Mabel looked back.

"You can't tell," Bill said. "But I'm wiggling my fingers."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to get you to help me up."

"Why not just ask me?"

Bill looked at her with distaste. "Just do it."

"No, I know how this works. Shake hands, possession." Mabel rolled her eyes. "Why didn’t you ask someone else?"

"I have a limited source of options."

"Do tell."

"I don't know where anyone is."

"But you knew where I was."

Bill huffed. "The Pines family has a strong... Presence. It went away awhile back, and that's why I woke up, so to speak. And I can't meet someone via Mindscape unless we've done it before."

"So what about Ford?"

"He's in town?"

"Yeah. He lives in the Shack."

"Oh, I can't see you there."

"Right,” Mabel nodded. “Unicorn hair."

"Wait, so are you living there again? Is that where you go? You sorta slip off radar sometimes."

"I guess."

"Did old Fordsy drive you here?"

"No, why?"

"Your energy was super jazzed up. It'd make sense if there were two of you."

"Dipper drove me."

"Really? That ball of paranoia?"

Mabel flushed. "I didn't specify where I was going."

Bill cackled. "That's great! I knew I liked you!"

Mabel started to pack up the lunch she'd made him. "If I move in the Mindscape I move IRL, right?"

"Sure."

Mabel grabbed his wrist. "Well, I'm headed home for my bed. In the meantime, you can explain this weird energy sensing thing."

"Does this mean you're helping me up?"

"Nope." Mabel turned and started to pull the statue along. 

"Well," Bill said happily. "Here's an explanation. I'm a super demon. I sense everyone's presence, cause of their energy and aura."

"Aura?"

"Yeah, baby. You're a mood ring. And the members of my Zodiac, specifically, you Pines- Pineses?- you four are like, I don't know. Let's say people are sparklers. Then there's Gideon, who is quick, loud, and makes you go temporarily blind. Your girlfriend, the blonde one? Pacifica? She's kind of like, the kind of firework with a tail. Wendy is lots of loud popping sounds, and dear old Fiddleford is the showy kind that makes shapes. You, though? You're the entire fourth of July."

"Cool," Mabel grunted. She wasn't so focused, as she was dragging a statue through a forest. Besides, she didn’t really care about anything Bill was saying.

"And that's why you're a shooting star! Also, the prophecy and stuff."

“And Dipper?”

“You’re all fourth of Julys.”

Mabel dropped the statue. She could see the Shack. Was is just her, or was that super fast? She turned and crouched down.

"Don't tell me. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Why am I here?"

Mabel sighed. "Next time you need to chat, don't make me crash my car. Look, you can sort of see the Shack from here and everything. But you're off-trail, so no one will wander into you."

"Why would I want to chat?"

"I dunno. It seems... Not entirely right to leave you back there. It's tempting to let you rot in the Mindscape, but I'm  _ not _ a heartless demon."

"I have a heart, it's in my eye."

"Is that where everything is?"

"I guess?"

Mabel patted his top hat. "See you later, alligator."

Bill blinked.

"The response is-"

"Ungh. Do I have to say it to get you to leave?" Mabel nodded. "Fine, fine. After a while, crocodile."

"Laters."

Mabel turned and jogged out of the forest.

* * *

 

_Time can be a tyrant but it always served you well_

_A game is just a game and a prize is just a prize_

_How do you keep a straight face when you're telling all those lies_  
  
_You are the one, you are the bullet in the chamber of the gun_

_You are the long forgotten prodigal son_

_And you will be here ages after I'm gone_

_I can only hope to kill you with a song_

_\- "A Song is a Weapon" Stars_


	10. The Deal 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly this chapter has very little plot but it does have a Mabel-made sweater, knock off brand names, and this fic's alternative squad. pretty much no editing, for which, i apologize.

Mabel woke up on the couch. She sat up, yawning.

“Mabel!”

Mabel looked over. Dipper was sitting on the floor, in front of their old television.

“Oh, hey.”

“You’re up! I was starting to get worried. You weren't home till like, four. Me and Great Uncle Ford finished up the bedrooms before you got back.”

“Thanks.” Mabel stretched. “Wow, I slept great.”

“So?” Dipper stared at her.

Mabel tilted her head. “So?”

“So, are you gonna tell me why you wandered off into the woods, or…?”

“Right, that.” Mabel thought for a moment. “I just kind of needed some air.”

Dipper didn’t seem to buy it, but he nodded. “Fair enough. Uh, you’re still in your-”

Mabel glanced down. “Drat! I need to change. Hey, could you give me a ride into town?”

“... I guess. Why?”

“I might have lunch with some people.”

“It’s three thirty in the afternoon.”

“Damn!” Mabel jumped up. “I need to go text Pacifica!”

Thirty minutes later, Dipper was waiting in the car, and Mabel had showered and rearranged her lunch plans. She left through the back door with a sweater in her arms, dressed in an old T-shirt and skirt. She glanced towards Dipper’s car, then hurried into the woods.

Mabel found the statue easily, and poked it. “Hey, pal. Mindscape time.”

She blinked, and the world around her twisted, reformed itself, went blank.

Mabel unfolded her sweater. “Hey, Bill.”

“Hey there. You’re back fast. Couldn’t stay away?”

Then, Mabel unfolded the second sweater, the one she’d been carrying inside of it.

“I made you something last night,” she told him. “Well, this morning. It’s a sweater.”

“What?”

Mabel held it up for him to see. She’d used mostly red wool, and some of her special gold on the pattern. “See? I did your little circle thing. The zodiac prophecy. I couldn’t really remember the order, but here’s Gideon, here’s Robbie, here’s Ford, Stan, Soos, here’s Wendy, there’s Mr. McGucket, there’s Pacifica, there’s Dipper, and here’s me!” Mabel pointed them out carefully. “And you’re in the center!”

Bill blinked.

“I think that's the right order,” he said after a moment.

“Awesome! Do you want me to put it on?”

He rolled his eye. “Do I have a choice?”

Mabel grinned and pulled the sweater over the statue. “Is it comfy?”

“Don't know.”

It didn't fit him- it was covering most of his eye. It almost made Mabel laugh but if he wasn't going to say anything, who was she to make a fuss? She considered asking him if he liked it, but thought that might be too much. Besides, he would never say _yes_. She still waited a moment, just in case he had anything to insult. “Cool,” Mabel said. “Well, I’m going into town today. Do you want anything?”

“I'm a being made of energy.”

“But you have a physical form now.”

“It's a rock. My physical form is a rock.”

Mabel’s face lit up. “I could paint you! Or maybe-

“Nope!”

Mabel sighed. “Okay, okay, fine.” She stood up. “I’ll head out then, sourpuss.” She rapped her knuckles playfully on Bill’s top hat. “See you later, alligator.”

“After a while, crocodile.”

Mabel headed out of the woods and to the car. Dipper was drumming his fingers against the wheel.

“Thanks for the ride,” she told him as she sat down. “Can you just drop me by the Auto Mart?” Dipper nodded. Mabel glanced over to look at him fully, and he didn't look back. “Hey, are you doing okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Mabel, seriously. I'm fine.”

Mabel nodded and looked pointedly out the window. Maybe he was just mad at her. That _would_ make sense.

Dipper clicked his tongue and added, “I'm just a little pissed off right now. Not a lot.”

“At me?”

Dipper shrugged. “Mostly Ford, honestly.”

Mabel felt like that should make her feel better. She felt like it did.

“He's just- he's difficult. I think he forgot how people work and stuff.” He sighed loudly, taking the car around the last turn before town. “And I feel pretty guilty, too. I left Gravity Falls and everything for my show, and because of, well-” Dipper made a sound of annoyance, that could only be summed up as _uuuuuuuuughungh!_ “I also kind of left because of him so, I mean- _uuuungggh_.”

“I feel you.”

“He's really not so bad. But sometimes he's just-”

“Yep.”

“He's really pushy,” Dipper said. “That's what it is. He can't let anything go.”

“Yeah, and you let go just fine.”

Dipper turned to her, shock in his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, no, I just-” Mabel dug her nails into her palm. “What I mean is, with Grunkle Ford, you can let go of stuff but he can't.”

“Oh. Right, that's true.”

“Eyes on the road.”

Dipper turned back to the road and the town appeared through the trees. He pulled up to the Auto Mart, and Mabel flashed him a smile.

“Thanks, bro. See you.”

“Sure thing, sis.”

Mabel hopped out of the car and headed into the Auto Mart. Bud Gleeful was sitting at the front counter, so she waved.

“Why, hello there, Mabel!”

“Hey, Bud. Is Gideon in?”

“Sure, sure, he’s just working on some cars. I was thinking, would you like to come over for coffee, or dinner sometime? Our house is just so quiet, Gideon never brings any of his friends over.”

Mabel smiled. “Yeah, that sounds great. Would it be bad if I took him now?”

“Oh, hardly. I always tell him he spends too much time with those old cars, he needs to get out more.”

“Thanks, Bud!”

“Course, course.”

Mabel headed into the Auto Shop, closing the door behind her. Gideon was hunched over the open hood of a hot pink convertible.

“What’s the diagnosis, doctor?”

Gideon dropped a largeset of pliers, and there was a large _clang._ He dove after it.

“Bad wiring.” He wiped his forehead. “She doesn't have long to live.”

“I can't steal you for lunch, then?”

Gideon dropped the pliers again, this time on his foot.

“Oh my god, are you okay?”

“Yes,” he squeaked. “Lunch sounds good.” He knocked the pliers away.

“Don't get too excited. It's a business casual friendly lunch, with Pacifica.”

“Excited? Me? I would never. Just let me go change out of my work clothes.”

“I’ll meet you outside.”

Gideon backed towards a door in the corner, not looking away from Mabel, then dashed through it. There was a click, and Mabel heard overexcited whooping.

She sighed and left the garage. She really hoped she wasn't leading it on. Now that Gideon was officially not entirely creepy, the idea of hanging out with him was a bit more appealing, but she was pretty sure it wouldn't be long before his ridiculous crush on her whirled out of control. Still, she'd had fun when they were friends, a long time ago. Maybe that _could_ happen again.

Dipper was still parked at the curb. Mabel walked over and knocked on the window. He rolled it down.

“Hey.”

“What's up?” Mabel asked. He shrugged.

“Mabel!” Gideon came running out, waving. She waved back.

“You're going to lunch with _Gideon_?” Dipper asked.

Mabel crossed her arms. “He's a friend of mine.”

Gideon stopped short when he reached the car, suddenly seeming cold. When he spoke, it was slowly, with obvious dislike. “Hello, Dipper.”

“Hey.” Dipper barely glanced at Gideon, who curled his hands into fists. “You want me to pick you up?”

“I’ll call you.”

Dipper looked over at Gideon, narrowing his eyes. “Can I get a timeframe?”

“I'll call you by five.”

Dipper nodded, not looking away from Gideon. He slowly backed the car away from the curb, and drove off. Gideon stared after the car with steely eyes.

Mabel coughed politely. “Well, we’re gonna be meeting Pacifica for coffee, and she doesn't like it when I'm late.”

“Course, pumpkin.” Gideon hooked his arm around hers and started off down the sidewalk at a fast pace. Mabel pulled arm hand away. He made no comment.

They quickly reached the local coffee shop. Mabel spotted Pacifica at one of the mismatches tables.

“I’ll go get some drinks,” Gideon said.

“Okay, whipped cream on mine.”

“Naturally.”

He headed to the counter, and Mabel made a beeline for Pacifica, who was setting her phone down.

“Mabel, ungh. I've been waiting, like. Forever.”

Mabel smiled apologetically. “I know, sorry. I overslept and had to go get Gideon.”

Pacifica’s eyes darted to the counter. “Him? Okay, fine. How are you?”

“I'm doing fine. A little tired, but oh well. And you?”

“I'm pissed off. My parents keep inviting this total tool over for dinner.”

“Yeah.” Pacifica downed her coffee. “He's a polo player though, so he'd probably let me ride his horses. I think I might date him for awhile to see if he'll give me one.”

“I bet he doesn't.”

“I bet he does.”

“You're on.”

Pacifica grinned.

“And what do I get if I win?”

“I'll tell you later.” Pacifica winked and went back to her phone. “He's texting me now. Is a horse emoji too forward?”

“Nothing's too forward!”

Pacifica laughed. “You're right.”

Mabel saw Gideon move to wait by the counter, and got up to bring another chair over for him.

“Why'd you bring Gideon?” Pacifica said his name with disgust, but her face remained neutral.

“I kind of wanted to talk to both of you about something.”

“Oh, something concerning me _and_ him? I can't _wait_ to find out what it is.”

Gideon appeared at the table with two drinks. “Freezecino.”

Mabel looked down at the drink. “Freezeccino?”

“I think it's an off brand frappuccino. It's cupcake flavored.”

“Good enough for me.” Mabel picked up the freezeccino and had a long drink. It was far too sweet. She loved it. “Okay. So, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you all here.”

“Not particularly,” Pacifica didn’t look up.

“Well, wonder no longer.” Mabel had a second slurp of her drink. _So_ good. “I may have mentioned it before. I'm working on reopening the Mystery Shack.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Pacifica, pay attention.”

“Gimme a sec.”

“You're… Reopening the Shack?” Gideon asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is that why you came back?”

“No. Sort of. It's complicated.”

“Oh.”

Pacifica set her phone down. “We're going to play polo.”

“Good for you,” Mabel said.

“So the Shack is getting opened.”

Mabel nodded. “But that's not why I wanted to have lunch. See, I’m thinking that when the Shack is opened, I'll have a brochure stand. I think we should all be business partners and do a brochure trade.”

Pacifica frowned. “You mean like, you put your brochures for your crummy Shack in my family's stupid hotel, and we put our stupid hotel brochures in your crummy Shack?”

“Yeah! I can also spread spooky advertisement stories about it. Like, at the _luxurious_ hotel, run by the _renowned_ Northwest family, we found this in _cred_ ibly chic ghost who said that free breakfast is served until ten!” Pacifica sniggered, and Mabel grinned. “They'll be Auto Mart brochures too.”

“Fine by me,” Gideon said. He was glaring at Pacifica, who was still giggling. Then he narrowed his eyes at Mabel, who raised her eyebrows at him.

Pacifica’s phone started buzzing.

“I also might need shift help,” Mabel said. “I might not be around all the time. And Gideon, I was thinking you might want to do some telepathy tenting or something.”

He smiled apologetically. “I’d love to, sugar pie, but I have certain- legal restrictions.”

“Oh, okay. Well, you could still give tours and work in the gift shop. I mean, If you wanted.”

Gideon beamed. “I'd be delighted!”

Pacifica gave him a dirty look.

Mabel clapped. “Great! That's actually _such_ good news, you guys have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I'll go over it all with our business people and call you,” Pacifica said. “Sound good?”

“Super!”

“I s’pose I’d better check it to, but I’m sure it’ll all work out.” Gideon had a sip from his drink. “Mmph, this is good.”

Pacifica looked over Mabel at the drinks list. “Should I get one?”

“I think it's too sweet for you.”

“They have green tea!” Pacifica shot up and was practically a blur on her way to the counter.

“Do you also have cupcake?” Mabel asked Gideon.

“I'm more of a vanilla creme. With chocolate chips.”

“Naturally.” Mabel popped off her cups lid to get at the whipped cream. “Chocolate makes everything better.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have this minor obsession with mabel, gideon, and pacifica all being friends that go shopping together, etc. then i also had this brilliant idea of gideon and pacifica low-key being love rivals, competing for but never winning mabel's fair hand, until they stop. i will either be developing this friend group or almost forgetting about it when they aren't in the plot. here's hoping it all works out!


	11. Important Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is completely unedited! i cower in shame!
> 
> the next chapter will most likely follow Dipper since that's gonna be a big chunk of the (planned) sequel to this and I'd like to test it out and give you all a sample before that time rolls around!
> 
> i'm also working on a playlist for this! let me know if any songs strike you as this-y.
> 
> the title i'm considered for the sequel is "Did You Hear the Closing Window, Did You See the Slamming Door?"

“So here’s a question,” Mabel said. “What _does_ a girl have to do to get some salamanders around here?”

Bill shrugged. “Sell your soul?”

Mabel set his statue down and stood up. “I’d find them all the time in my backyard. Turn over a rock, and there’s like, a salamander family reunion. But now that I actually need one, the entire species has migrated to Canada!”

“Maybe not Canada.”

“Canada!” Mabel kicked at the ground. “And even _you_ can’t give me any salamander hunting tips?”

“Well, give my hand a shake, and I might think it over.”

“Ungh, I don’t know why I’m talking to you.”

“Why are you looking for salamanders?” Bill asked.

Mabel would normally have appreciated his pretending to show interest in her life. Typically, when she walked by and said “how are you doing,” he just said “I’m a rock” and Mabel said “but how goes it” and he would tell her something horrible about his life and then start to repeat _“after a while, crocodile”_ until she left him alone. But at the moment, Mabel was at her wit’s end, and it mostly just pissed her off.

“Ungh.” Mabel kicked the ground again, this time closer to Bill. He noticed, and winced.

“Careful,” he said.

“You’re a rock.” Mabel kicked the ground a third time, in case he’d missed it. “Great Uncle Ford sent me salamander hunting. _This_ is the important work we’re doing.”

“So he’s doing important work?”

“ _No_ , he’s sending me to look for salamanders. But instead of going to look for them, I went to the mall. Have you been to the mall?”

Bill rolled his eye. “Sure, yesterday.”

“Don’t take that tone with me. It’s fun. You should try it, if you’re ever not a rock.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Mabel groaned and sat down. “Can you even pretend to be a decent- _thing_?”

“Yeah, alright.”

Mabel stuck out her tongue at him. “Fine, be that way.” She flicked Bill’s top hat. “I’ll see you around, then.”

“I’d check under a log by a fake tree.”

“See you later, alligator.”

“After a while, crocodile.”

Mabel pinched herself and blinked, adjusting to the bright sunlight. Bill’s statue was staring at her.

“A log by a fake tree,” she said. “There are at least three fake trees in this forest! I’m not going fake tree hunting! Some help you are.”

Mabel stomped out of the forest and towards the Shack. Ford had given her a lecture about responsibility that morning and Mabel was _not_ looking forward to the sequel.

Dipper was kneeling on the ground next to his car. Mabel walked in his general direction.

“Hey,” Dipper said.

“Hi,” Mabel said, stopping. “Everything okay?”

“I scratched my car.” He frowned. “Except, I _didn’t_ scratch my car.” He turned to look at Mabel. “Did you take her out?”

Mabel had recently learned that Dipper had fallen into the terrible habit of naming his cars. This one- his sneaky car, for running away from fans and paparazzi, and which had made it all the way up California without detection- was called Lisa. Dipper affectionately called her Li. Mabel had a pretty good idea about who her namesake was.

“No,” Mabel said. “I just got my car back, why would I take yours?”

“Are you sure you didn’t borrow her before? It’s okay, really.”

“Nope,” Mabel shook her head. “Your car smells like bad cologne and those fake pine tree scent things. But if you want I can drive her next time I head into town and drop her off with Gideon.”

“No thanks. I’ll fix her up myself.

“Dipper, that’s ridiculous. Gideon’s a really good mechanic and I can get you a really good discount!”

“I can do a really good job by myself!” Dipper sighed indignantly. “I don’t know _why_ you’re hanging out with Gideon, Mabel. He’s-”

“He’s a nice guy,” Mabel snapped. “No thanks to you.”

Dipper flinched. “ _Still?”_

“He’s nice! And he’s- ungh, whatever. I need to go tell Great Uncle Ford I can’t find him any salamanders.”

“Oh, no worries.” Dipper turned back to Li. “I went out and found him a few earlier.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, you’d been out awhile so I thought I’d grab them.”

Mabel stared at him.

She hadn’t gone _out_. She’d been looking for salamanders.

“What did you think I was _doing_?”

“I dunno, but I thought I’d pitch in, since I’m staying here. Was it windy last night?” Dipper licked his thumb and started to rub the the scratch. It was long and silver, tracing its way from his mirror to the bottom corner of his door. “Could a branch have blown over?”

Mabel blinked. _She_  had been going to get the salamanders. “Did you already give them to Ford?”

“Yeah, he said to thank you.”

“He did?”

“I think.”

Mabel’s lips felt dry. She licked them.

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks, Dipper.”

Mabel headed inside through the giftshop door. It was really starting to come together, in that it was no longer a void of spiders and mold. She was still in the process of getting all the old goods to look like something she could sell. It didn’t help that Ford had taken to moving the eyeball jar into the basement. Every single time Mabel brought it back into the shop, he brought it back into the basement. It was so annoying.

Now that her day was cleared, Mabel didn’t know what to do. She should probably check in with Ford, but she really didn’t want to. But she _should…_

Mabel sighed loudly, and slammed the door behind her. She went to the kitchen to make Ford a plate for lunch, then headed toward the vending machine and punched in the code.

“Stupid _geniuses,_ ” Mabel muttered on her way down the stairs. “Stupid forest, stupid salamanders, _stupid.”_

She stopped at Ford’s door. Mabel knocked, but there was no answer.

“Great Uncle Ford?”

There was no answer. She decided to let herself in, and opened the door. As always, in spite of the ease with which he could manufacture an endless lightbulb, he was working in the dim light of a dying one. Mabel squinted and headed towards Ford’s desk.

He was bent over, snoring loudly over five pieces of paper. Mabel set down the plate and squatted down.

“Stupid Ford.”

He kept his lightbulbs near his wastebasket. Mabel bit her tongue thoughtfully and reached past his legs, knocking away some scrunched up paper to get at the box, and wiggled it out. She extracted a fresh bulb and pushed over Ford’s triangle rock. She wasn’t sure why he had it, but it was just the right size to use as a stool. Mabel changed the bulb and the lighting went back to its normal not quite bright but still not dark-ness. Mabel returned to the desk. Ford was drooling on his papers.

Mabel hoisted him up and slid the papers away. He’d probably throw a fit if he could see her. “Don’t move my papers,” he’d say. “Don’t disrupt my work.”

_Too bad._

Mabel set Ford back down and picked his coat up off his chair to drape over him like a blanket. She left his lunch on his desk and blew out his candle.

“Sleep well, Grunkle Ford.”

She moved the triangle rock back out of the way and returned to the main floor. The gift shop phone was ringing. Did her torment never end?

Mabel hurried to answer the phone before it stopped ringing. She really hoped it wasn’t Grunkle Stan’s lawyer, or a policeman, or a tax collector, or her mom-

“Mabel!” Gideon shouted. “ _Finally!”_

“Hi, Gideon.” Mabel sat down on the counter. “I was worried you were a lawyer.”

“No! I’ve been trying to reach you, do you have your phone?”

“Yeah, it’s right-” Mabel reached into her pocket. “Oh, I must have dropped it. What’s up?”

“Honey, you’ve _got_ to get down here. We just bought the most _amazing_ car, you’ll never believe it- you’re going to lovelove _love_ it! I just called Pacifica and she’s on her way over-”

“ _You_ called Pacifica?”

“I couldn’t get you to pick up! She’s coming to get you, you _have_ to come see it, it’s so great! See you soon, pumpkin!”

There was a click as he hung up. Mabel rolled her eyes. Classic Gideon.

“Hey, Mabel, are you in here?”

Mabel set down the phone. “Sorry, Dipper, I’m actually about to-”

Dipper opened the door. “Pacifica’s here for you. She said something about a car.” His face darkened as he added, “She said _I_ should take my _Lisa_ to-”

“To Gideon, yeah, you should. Remember when you offered to fix _my_ car?”

“I said I was sorry!”

Mabel stuck her tongue out at him, and went to grab her purse. Dipper followed her. “Well, Pacifica and I are going over to the Automart to check out this car the Gleeful’s bought. We’ll probably stick around for dinner.”

Dipper pulled a face. “Aw, seriously?”

“You should come sometime! Bud makes this really good chicken pot pie!”

“You’re _always_ off hanging out with them, and I’m here with Ford.”

“So?” Mabel found her purse on the couch, and pulled out some lip gloss. “You love Ford.”

Dipper made another face. Mabel finished putting her gloss on, and heard honking outside.

“Just go hang out with _your_ friends. Wendy and everyone live here too, I _know_ , because I actually talk to people. Or Skype your cast or something. Or your writer crew or- I don’t know.”

“Mabel!”

“Out I go. Have a good one, bro.”

Mabel snatched up a jacket strode past Dipper, leaving him in the doorway to sulk. Pacifica was sitting in her tiny car, honking. Mabel collapsed into the passenger seat.

Pacifica stopped honking. “Is Dipper okay?”

Mabel looked up to see Dipper slam the door. “He’s probably fine.”

“He seems angrier than normal.”

“He’s always angry.”

“I’ve noticed. So, what are we doing again?”

“Gideon says he has a cool car.”

Pacifica made an exasperated noise. “This better be worth it. “

“It will be!”

She flipped the car into reverse. “Then off we go, with only a minor pit stop for coffees.”

“Yay!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u know what i'm going to outline tHIS SHIT I'M GOING TO MAKE AN OUTLINE SO I'LL FINALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN I SIT DOWN TO WRITE A CHAPTER because right now i've just got this general idea floating around and scenes I want to have happen and I have a lot more ideas for the sequel but for now I need to get THIS BEAUTIFUL!


	12. Dipper Pines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of march I said I would post a chapter from Dipper's point of view (despite the idea I thought this would be a trash chapter) because the sequel would be from his POV. Then I wrote the chapter and thought that maybe, given some of the content, it might be a good idea to edit it a bit more, which resulted in a few glance overs, but definitely not the editing I'd like to give it, so I left it while I started the next chapter, and then guess what? I went to London! I didn't have my laptop but I was in the UK having the time of my life! And even better, when I came home I discovered my family was birdsitting for a friend, and that the bird really likes me. Anyway, while on my trip, this fic was on my mind a lot (when I had the time to think, haha) and I just came home a few days ago with a smuggled kinder egg and finally decided I HAD to post this chapter, because I need to finish ad post the other!
> 
> So without further ago, I'd like to hand over my latest chapter!  
> But one last important thing first.
> 
> Like I mentioned, there is some SENSITIVE CONTENT in this chapter. Part of the reason this chapter is Dipper's POV is because this content, while experienced by Mabel, is not something she lets herself think about or talk about. It's something she dealt with in her own way and now there is no chance she'll mention it if she can avoid it. Of course, the situation I discuss here will eventually be addressed by Mabel but not for a long time, probably not even until the end of this or the sequel. (While we're at it, I'd also like to say that it's not the reason for the current distance between her and Dipper) The other reason is because if this content is something you don't care to read about, this chapter is not really necessary to the plot, and can be easily skipper. The trigger warning will be right below this so if you don't want to spoil the subject/chapter, just give a little scroll.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING FOR: mentions/discussion of past abuse, I'll add that to the tags on this too.
> 
> So there you have it and now here it is, for real, what I honestly think is the worst chapter of this fic yet, but will probably soon be followed by much worse.

_ Emptiness caught the better half of me. _

__ -“The Loose Ends Will Make Knots” Stars _ _

 

 

* * *

 

Dipper woke up to a phone ringing. He sat up, wiping his mouth. It wasn’t his cell phone. Was it the gift shop phone?

He stood up and traipsed down the stairs, wondering if Mabel was home. It couldn’t be her calling- she would have just called his cell. Right? _Was_ she calling?

He glanced at the clock in the living room. It was just after eleven. Did she need a ride home? _This_ late? Were her and Gideon and Pacifica all sleeping together or something?

 _God, I hope not._ The phone stopped ringing, and Dipper opened the gift shop. It was pretty damn dark.

He started over to the phone to see who had called. He didn’t recognize the number. Five missed calls? He picked the phone up and pressed play.

_“Howdy, this is Gideon. I was hoping someone was home. Mabel’s not feeling that great and a ride would just be fantastic. Dipper? Stan? Alright, I’ll check in with her and call back in a little while!”_

_“Hey folks, it’s me again. If you missed my last message, Mabel’s not doing so well and it’d be swell if Dipper or Stan could swing on over to the Northwest’s house to give her a hand. Okay, call me back if you can!”_

The third message was nothing but empty air, left from another number. Dipper thought nothing of it, probably a call from Pacifica’s house.

_“Mabel’s still not doing too great. Is anyone home? Hello? Come on over or just call back as soon as you can! Oh, this is Gideon.”_

Dipper was starting to feel a little sick. What did Gideon mean when he said Mabel wasn’t _“doing that great”_? Had something happened? Something awful? He spun on his heel and hurried back up the stairs to his room, snatching his phone up off his bedside table. It lit up with texts from Pacifica asking him if he was awake, saying that something was up with Mabel, could he please come over, now, _please._ Dipper swore and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, then shrugged off his ratty t-shirt to pull on a binder and a less sweaty shirt. He snatched a hoodie off of his desk, shoved the phone in his pocket, and only paused to put on his slippers before racing down the stairs and out to the car.

He jumped into the driver seat and started Lisa up, then took off. The drive through Gravity Falls was normally quick, but now it felt much too slow. He pulled up at the Northwest Gate and went to buzz in.

After a moment, someone, probably a butler or something, answered. _“Hello?”_

“Hi, this is Dipper Pines? I got a call from Pacifica?”

“ _Yes, of course. Just a moment.”_

There was a buzz, and the gates opened. Dipper floored the gas and then hit the brake. He screeched to a halt and ran up the steps to the mansion, and knocked on the door. The butler opened it and gestured for him to wait in a sitting room while he fetched Pacifica. Dipper started to tap his foot impatiently. After a moment, the butler returned.

“If you’ll come with me,” he said. Dipper nodded eagerly, and followed him up a staircase and down a hall he immediately recognized as leading to Pacifica’s room. It helped that Gideon standing outside texting, presumably, him. His large hands clashed with Pacifica’s pink and delicate phone, but it definitely suited him.

Gideon looked up at the sound of their footsteps, and Dipper saw both relief and loathing appear on his face. Dipper raised a hand in greeting.

“Dipper,” Gideon said. Dipper lowered his hand.

“Gideon.”

Gideon shut off Pacifica’s phone and clenched his jaw. “Mabel,” he said, after some obvious and lengthy consideration.

“How is she?”

Gideon mulled this over carefully. “Maybe you'd better check on her. I’ll-”

“Can you tell me what happened first?” Dipper asked quickly.

Gideon sighed. It looked as if the idea of having a conversation with Dipper that didn't involve threatening him seemed physically painful. “To tell you the truth, I don't know.”

“What were you guys doing?”

“Watching TV.”

“What show?”

Gideon suddenly had a terrible and loud coughing fit, and Dipper almost missed his answer: _“yours.”_

 _Fuck_.

“Fuck. Do you- was it- do you know what episode?”

“I don't _watch_ your _show,_ Dipper. And even if I ever _do_ want to watch a show with terrible editing, acting, and writing, believe me, it will _not_ be yours-”

“Shut up,” Dipper retorted. “Was it the incubus episode?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Damn it. _Damn it_. Is Pacifica with her?” Gideon nodded. “Why’d you leave?”

He shook Pacifica’s phone.

“Okay,” Dipper sighed. “Thanks for calling me, I guess. I'm sorry about- you know.”

Gideon glanced Dipper up and down with cold eyes, saying nothing. Dipper was starting to get the feeling that he’d been dismissed when he asked, “What’s the incubus episode?”

“Excuse me?”

“You just asked if we were watching the incubus episode. What's the incubus episode?”

Dipper blinked.

“It's a little complicated.”

“I got time.”

Dipper nodded, and rubbed his forehead. He was too tired for this.

“Wanna sit?” he asked, pointing to a bench. Or maybe it was a chaise lounge. Or maybe just a big foot stool? Dipper didn't know anything about fancy furniture.

For once, Gideon did as Dipper suggested and sat down. Dipper did the same.

“So,” Dipper said. “What do you know about my show?”

“That it's awful.”

“Well, it's about this monster hunter type guy named Sky, and his friend Nellie, and they basically go around the country killing demons or saving fairies or whatever. Over the last season we've been building Nellie up with this incubus, except, you know, Nellie didn't know he was an incubus. You know what an incubus is?”

“Sounds familiar.”

“It's a kind of sex demon. Anyway, their relationship develops but the incubus starts to sort of slowly take more and more control over Nellie. It all builds up to a really upsetting episode. Mabel doesn't like it all that much. I mean. You were just watching it. You know.”

“Yeah, but that's just a tv show. It's not real.”

“Of course it's real,” Dipper said. “Nellie’s Mabel.”

“Beg pardon?”

“I write the show. Nellie _is_ Mabel. Nellie’s a slightly more serious and monster hunter Mabel, but the character is written for her. Did you not realize that?”

Gideon looked completely shocked. “But why would you write that about _Mabel_?”

Dipper thought about the best way to explain this situation, and made a sound that didn't quite do the trick.

“I shouldn't be telling you this,” he finally said. “It's really not any of our business.”

Gideon paused. “Oh.”

Dipper looked at him through the corner of his eye. It didn't look like he was getting ready to punch him or try to kill him.

Dipper thought for a minute. He wondered how he was supposed to go about explaining Johnny.

“Mabel had this not great boyfriend, sometime before our first year of college.”

_He was a guy I played DD &D with sometimes. Mabel ran into him when she was picking me up- we shared a car back then- and they hit it off. He was all she ever talked about. It drove you crazy. She only had eyes for Johnny. And he was an alright guy, not really loud but not especially quiet. Most of the stuff I knew about him came from Mabel. He didn't talk about himself that much._

_There was no way I could have-_

“What do you mean, _not great?_ He wasn't an incubus?”

Dipper looked over at Gideon.

 _There was_ him- _Not Great Gideon, but Johnny was more that just not a good person, Johnny was despicable, Johnny was-_

“No. He was just a regular guy. I guess.”

_He was the worst human being I've ever met._

“I don't understand what you're trying to say.”

 _I thought it was sentiment when Mabel started to wear only sweaters again, I didn't notice that all of her short sleeves and low necklines disappeared, I didn't realize that she'd thrown out all her crop tops, I didn't know, I couldn't have- I_ should _have-_

“I mean- what I’m trying to say is- it's _complicated._ I don't know what I'm trying to say. It's not even any of your business. It's Mabel’s business. It's-”

_But she might have been trying to tell him, letting her sleeves ride up, wearing see-through shirts, complaining about chronic pain, she had always talked about Johnny but Dipper had never asked- it wasn't until she told him they had to talk about Johnny- after he asked her about her eye- it wasn't until after he hit her in the eye that he even_

“It was a bad relationship. He was hurting her. I started to write the arc a  while after they split up because Nellie always meant a lot to Mabel and I thought seeing a character she felt close to have to go through the same stuff would be- I don't know-”

“Therapeutic?”

Dipper nodded.

_And then there's Tony._

“It’s not.”

“In _know,_ Gideon. She can't watch the episode by itself. She has to watch the entire end of the arc but sometimes the episode gets shown on its own. Writing it was really stupid but it did help a little, at the time. At least, I thought it did.”

Gideon nodded in understanding. “It can be hard to tell with-”

“Yeah. It doesn't matter, it was a stupid idea, anyway. She probably doesn't want to talk to me right now, but… Thanks for calling me.”

Gideon nodded. “Of course.”

Dipper coughed. “Maybe, I could give you my number in case-”

“That's a good idea.” Gideon reached into his jacket and pulled out phone that looked to be a few years out of date. He handed it to Dipper. He had one of those protective cases, the kind with a plastic cover over the screen.

“Ungh, how do you type with this?”

“I find I don't need it too often.”

Dipper added himself as a contact and handed it back to him. “There you go. I normally have my cell phone around.”

“Mm hmm.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Dipper pulled his own phone out. He checked some of his social media accounts before the door to Pacifica’s room opened.

“Is Dipper here ye- oh, _there_ you are.” She crossed over to pull him up. She gave him a quick, hard hug before stepping back. “What are you wearing? I can't believe the butler let you in in _that_.”

“ _You_ told me to come.”

Pacifica huffed and pulled him toward the door. “Come on.”

“Wait, I’m really not sure if-”

Pacifica glanced over her shoulder to give him a stern look. “Come _on._ You wimp.”

Dipper swallowed and nodded. Pacifica yanked him through the door to her room, and her demeanor changed noticeably. Her posture instantly became more relaxed, and all of her attention went to the pile of blankets at the foot of her bed, her face becoming softer.

“Mabel, Dipper’s here. Is it okay if I turn the lights on?”

Mabel didn’t say anything. Pacifica shoved Dipper into the room, and when he looked back, she looked pointedly at Mabel. Dipper hesitated, then entered the room.

“Hey Mabel.”

“Hey.”

Dipper sat down next to the pile of blankets. “Can I come in?”

Mabel didn't move. Dipper’s eyes were beginning to adjust to Pacifica’s dark room- Mabel wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the dark television.

Gideon stuck his head in. “Is-”

“Shh,” Pacifica said. Mabel moved, and Dipper realized she had opened up the blankets. He scored next to her and lifted them back up.

“Is Mabel-”

“Shush,” Pacifica said again, and shooed Gideon out of the room. She followed him and shut the door.

“Sorry about the episode,” Dipper said.

“‘S’okay.”

“Not really. You were having a great night.”

“I guess.”

“And I ruined it.”

“It wasn't your fault.”

Dipper sighed. “Still.”

Mabel sighed too, resting her chin on her knees. “I'm so tired.”

“Me too.”

Mabel started to shuffled around in the blankets.

“What are you doing?”

“I stole something for you.”

_“What?!”_

Mabel stuck her arm out from the blankets. “Here. Look. Gideon brought me some emergency yarn when I was freaking out and this was in the Emergency Bag.”

“Emergency Bag?”

Mabel poked him with her hand. Dipper held out his hand and she dropped a bolo tie into it. Dipper lifted it up. It was emitting a soft, blue glow.

“The magic telekinesis amulet?”

Mabel yawned. “Yeah. I wasn't gonna tell you.”

“This is kind of bad. He might be plotting something. Something nefarious.”

“Yeah.”

“Does he know you found this?”

“Yeah.”

“What'd he say?”

Mabel put her head on his shoulder. “Said to keep it.”

“Here, then.”

“I don't really want it.”

Dipper looked down at the bolo tie, then back at Mabel. “I don't have any pockets.”

“Okay.”

He handed it back to her and she stuck it in whatever pocket it had come out of. “Let's get out to the car. I have something I want to give you.”

Mabel nodded and stood up, moving very slowly. She took a step forward and fell onto the floor. Dipper hurried to get the lights- she had tripped over what must have been the Emergency Bag. It had a lamb on the front, with a first aid kit.

 _What the fuck,_ Dipper thought as he helped her up. _What the actual fuck._ Mabel followed him out of the room.

“We’ll be heading out,” he said. “Paz, can I call you tomorrow?”

“Later today?”

“What? Oh, right. Yeah. Later today. I've got some stuff you can read.”

Pacifica nodded.

“You can send me stuff to read too!”

“Sure, Gideon. Alright, come on, Mabel.”

Dipper turned around. In the lights, he could see Mabel’s makeup was running, and her hair was sticking out in all directions.

She grinned. “I'll see you guys later, right?”

“Bitch, you _know_ it.” Pacifica winked at Mabel, who winked back. She turned and started down the hall, patting Gideon on the head.

“See you, Gid.”

“See you,” he said, reaching up to touch his hair. Dipper heard him mutter something under his breath about wanting a wink.

He followed after Mabel. She reached the car before him, and when he got in, she'd reclined the seat.

Dipper started up the car. “Mabel, do you pinkie swear you haven't been scratching Lisa? I promise I won't-” he trailed off. Mabel had lifted up her pinkie. “Okay.”

He backed out of the Northwest driveway, and the gate opened automatically.

“Hey,” he said after a moment. “Have you had any bad dreams lately?”

“All the time. Can't remember.”

“Me too.”

“Remember?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Wanna tell?”

Dipper blinked, screwing his eyes shut before he opened them. “I don't know. I've been dreaming about… you know.” Dipper bit down on his lip. “Him.”

Mabel didn't say anything.

“I had a really bad one just before I came here. I dreamt that he was chasing me. I could actually hear him breathing. It was awful.”

“It's okay. He's not chasing you.”

“I know.” Dipper smiled at Mabel, looking content as could be in her seat. “I was really relieved what I got your voicemail. You've got no idea how happy I was to hear you were doing okay. Are you asleep yet?”

“Mm.”

“I worry about you, you know. Stay cool forever.”

Mabel let out a snore.

“Okay, talk time’s over,” Dipper said, and kept driving. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really think this chapter could have turned out a lot better but, there you have it. Also-
> 
> 1\. The discovery of Gideon's old amulet was originally planned to happen when Dipper arrived. He would walk in with Pacifica and Gideon to see Mabel knitting, having accidentally taken ahold of the amulet, which had begun to mimic her actions and knit a sweater at the same time as her. Sadly, I decided to scrap it because I thought I needed to get Dipper and Gideon to a level of tolerating each other for upcoming plot points, and it just kind of ended up not happening (sort of like the bonfire I'd also thought about having).
> 
> 2\. Some of you guys might have noticed these lines in the last chapter: [“He’s a nice guy,” Mabel snapped. “No thanks to you.” Dipper flinched. “Still?”] Some of you might also remember the Weirdmageddon ending I'd stated a few more chapters back (that everyone had their memories erased, except for a few select people, including the Pines family). If you put these together, kudos to you, and wow, you must either have a great memory or actually be really into this! 
> 
> 3\. I outlined this fic and I now have an official date marked for the return of one of the sweetest guys alive to the lives of some of my favorite twins. All I'll say on that for now is: his current appearance is planned for chapter 16! I'm pumped about having an outline because now I can hypothetically answer questions about the plot, and more importantly, I can give ominous or exciting hints! And on that subject: the next update is all set to be the Summerween special!
> 
> 4\. With my outline I also typed up the playlists I have in mine for this fic and it's sequel, so up until the last chapter, it's your last chance to offer up any songs that remind you of this fic!
> 
> 5\. Last but not least, I wanted to thank you all for being the most awesome readers ever, and to let you know that the little bird on my shoulder says hi!


	13. The Summerween Special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the *spooky music* Summerween Special!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With my break ending tomorrow and my returning to a 9 class schedule (and homework!) I forced myself to finish and post this today. A few quick notes before the chapter!  
> 1\. last update, I said *someone* would be appearing in chapter 16 but with the addition of the chapter from Dipper's POV, this will register as happening in chapter 17. (I had the Dipper chapter marked as 11.5 in my outline, so, my bad)  
> 2\. I realized as I went to edit this that I absolutely cannot stand to edit my writing when it's fresh and because of that I'm giving this to you with vey few look-overs.  
> 3\. Spoiler alert: There's an experimental dream sequence in the middle of this. I can't believe I did that.  
> 4\. I updated Dipper's chapter to include a quote from a song I was either going to place in this chapter or save. I might pull it back up for a later chapter of the sequel, and possibly take it away from that chapter if that's the case. The quote is from the Stars song 'The Loose Ends Will Make Knots': "Emptiness caught the better half of me."  
> 5\. CAN YOU BELIEVE WE'RE OVER HALFWAY THROUGH? Also, be prepared for a chapter twice as long as the length I normally aim for.

Mabel frowned at her mirror. She kept getting mascara right underneath her eye. She _hated_ it when that happened. She reached up to wipe it off.

“Mabel! Door for you!”

“Coming!”

She put on fresh lip gloss and hurried down the stairs. Dipper was standing at the door, having apparently just finished a heated staring contest with Gideon.

“Please explain why Gideon is doing on our porch in this outfit,” he said. “And- you're in an outfit too.”

Gideon looked offended. “This _outfit?”_

Mabel rolled her eyes. “Dipper, he's obviously the tiger, from the Warlock of Odd? And I’m the Aluminum Man?”

“What?”

“It's Ju-”

“Oh. _Oh,_ man, is it Summerween already? Thank god. I didn't know what was going on.” Dipper turned to Gideon. “I thought you were a Salesman. Or a weird Jehovah Witness type thing-”

“Oh,” Mabel said. “I had my Mom dress Waddles up as a flying chimp!”

Gideon’s eyes widened. “Really?!”

“Yeah, I'll send you pictures! Okay, Dipper, we’re heading out.”

“You guys going trick or treating?”

“Nah, to the Northwest party.”

“Paz got you invited?”

“We're just going long enough to sneak Pacifica out,” Gideon said. “She's Dotty.”

“Oh, cool. Well, have fun.”

“See you soon!” Mabel said. Within an thirty minutes, they had smuggled Pacifica out of the mansion, and were back at the Shack.

“We’re back!” she called as she opened the door. Pacifica dropped her bag on the floor.

“Hello, Shack!” she shouted. Gideon sat down on the floor to take his shoes off, then gave up and stood back up.

Mabel crossed into the living room. Dipper looked up at her with puppy dog eyes.

“You're kidding. Come _on,_ Mabel.”

“Not kidding.”

“The Ghost Harassers marathon just started! It _just_ started.”

“Well, we're going to watch bad animated movies, so you either have to hang out with us or leave. Do you want to hang out with Gideon? Do you?”

Dipper groaned. “Fine! I'm colonizing the kitchen. I hope you don't want popcorn! Because I'm eating all the popcorn! And you're on door duty!”

“Fine by me, now, _shoo._ ”

Dipper left the room, muttering about Mabel’s stupid friends. Mabel stuck her head in after him.

“Go check on Great Uncle Ford if you get the chance,” she told him. “I worry about him.”

“He's probably asleep, or reading. But fine.”

Mabel shut the door and returned to the living room, where Pacifica had already claimed the huge huge couch Mabel had replaced the molding old chair with. She straightened and patted the cushion on the edge, and Mabel sat obediently.

Gideon made a noise of protest from the floor, but Pacifica shushed him.

“Which Tom Hurton do you guys want?” Mabel asked, turning on the television. “Gideon, the DVDs are in those drawers.”

He made another noise of protest, but got up to look through them.

“I have the Hoarse Bride, Bad asleep Before Thanksgiving-”

“Can we watch something that's actually scary?” Pacifica asked.

“These _are_ scary!” Mabel said. “They have claymation and everything!”

“Isn't there a Ghost Harassers marathon tonight?”

 _“Pacifica!_ ”

“We could always just compromise and watch the movies I brought over,” Gideon suggested. He reached into his jacket. “Now, let's see. The Widdlest Wampire, I _loved_ that as a kid-”

“No,” they both answered.

“I also have both My Mummy’s a Werewolf films!”

“Ooh, I like those,” Mabel said. Pacifica rolled her eyes.

“Fine. Babies,” she added under her breath. “Is Dipper going to-”

“ _Dipper_ is in the _kitchen_. Now, I'll get the movies set up and-”

There was a knock on the door, then a pause.

“I'll get it,” Gideon said after a moment, and headed into the hall. While messing with the television, she overheard the door open and Gideon melting over a cute costume a kid was wearing.

“Mabel, you have to come see-”

He dragged her to the door to look at a ghost costume. Then he gave the kid their candy and let them go.

The night went on like that; they alternated opening the door and more often than not, Gideon insisted Mabel come see whatever costume a kid was wearing. When they started the second movie, Pacifica began to insist that this one _felt_ longer, and was making light of a much more serious predecessor.

Dipper entered the room once to make a break for the staircase. Mabel didn't think of him much after that, until she heard him shriek “Oh, _fuck!”_

“Should we be worried?” Pacifica asked after there was a banging sound.

Mabel shrugged. “He’s probably fine.”

Gideon nodded eagerly. “Yes, let's not worry about Dipper!”

There were more clashes, and then the definitive sound of feet rushing down a staircase. Dipper charged behind them with his hands straight out, holding something, and made a break for the front door. He opened it and then screamed “ _fuck!”_ before he slammed it again.

“Um,” Mabel said.

Dipper raced back toward the kitchen, screaming a mess of words. It sounded like “ _fuckfirstaidkitfuckholyshitfuckfuckingfuck.”_

Pacifica and Gideon looked Mabel.

“Um,” she said again. “I'll just go check on that.”

She followed Dipper into the kitchen. He was rooting through the cabinets.

“Whatcha looking for?”

“The first! Aid! _Kit!”_

“What happened?”

“Your snake- _attacked_ me!” Dipper sat down at the table with a first aid kit Mabel didn't recognize and immediately disliked.

“Why’s that symbol on it?” she asked, pointing. Dipper glanced down.

“Oh, right, it's sort of associated with my show. I can't find the antivenom-”

“Slithers isn't poisonous.”

“No, just _venomous.”_ Dipper sighed and stuck his free hand in his pocket. “Oh, here.”

Mabel started. “That's a needle!”

“It's an injection. Where are the- here!”

Dipper pulled out some wipes, rolled up his shirt to clean his shoulder, then readied the needle.

Mabel instinctively reached towards him and Dipper grabbed her hand and squeezed as he shot it in.

He let out all the breath he'd been holding and set it back down.

Mabel stared at their hands.

Whenever they went to get shots they had always-

She stared at their hands.

She hadn't even meant to do it. She just had. She had done it without thinking-

Her hand was empty and Dipper was standing by the sink and bandaging his injured hand. He'd given a shot with an injured hand.

“I,” Mabel said.

“Hey, I found the coolest thing upstairs, let me go grab it.” Dipper turned and his hand went back to his pocket and he was gone.

Mabel went back into the living room.

“Dipper found something cool.”

“A girlfriend?” Pacifica asked.

“A likable quality?” Gideon followed.

Mabel giggled.

Dipper appeared at the head of the stairs. “Are they sleeping over?”

“Yes!”

There were some thumping noises. Mabel turned and saw of bundles of blankets and some sleeping bags rolling down the stairs. Dipper reappeared with several larges packages and started to clamber down.

“I found a bunch of air mattresses, if you guys want them? Is that MMAW two? Okay, here's the cool thing.”

He dropped the air mattresses onto Gideon’s lap, who jumped and looked offended.

Dipper stepped away from the final packages. Except it wasn't a package. It was a- it looked a lot like a-

“It's the old karaoke machine! I'd just found it when the snake got out.”

Something clicked for Mabel. The rush to the door. Dipper holding his arms as far away from himself as he could get. His immediately shutting the door.

Oh.

“This has all the classics,” he said, plugging it in. “Call Me Perhaps is on here! Can you believe that's already, like, thirty years old?”

Gideon narrowed his eyes, shoving the mattresses to the floor. “Singing, you say?”

Dipper tossed him a microphone. “Need I say it again?”

Pacifica frowned. “I don't like karaoke.”

Mabel felt a stab of relief. Pacifica was going to dismiss him. She had just dismissed him. Dipper would let it rest.

“Cause it's embarrassing?”

Pacifica flushed. “Yes! It's annoying and it's _embarrassing_ and I do _not_ sing, Dipper!”

“Paz, karaoke’s about having fun and sounding bad together! It's not about being a singer!”

“You won a crown singing at a dance,” Mabel added.

“I _bribe_ people, Mabel. I was like, ten-”

“Song time!” Dipper announced. “Here, Gideon, you pick” He dropped a binder of songs into his lap and Gideon made a contained, but excited sound. Dipper dropped onto the couch where Mabel had been sitting, forcing Pacifica to squawk and move over. “A movie I watched this one time, it said that karaoke is the one time you get to feel good while torturing everyone around you, or something.”

Pacifica narrowed her eyes. “Actually, Dipper, I can think of a few others times I might feel good torturing you.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm hmm.”

Mabel sniggered.

“This has _musicals_ in it!” Gideon exclaimed. “This has musicals and music from the 1965 to 2010! Okay, okay, I’ve got it, I’m going.”

Gideon then sang the worst rendition of Greece’s “Beauty Class Dropout” that Mabel had ever witnessed. It was simultaneously the greatest and the worst thing she’d ever heard. Even Dipper and Pacifica had to give him begrudgingly applause. Gideon bowed.

“Alright, let a pro onto the stage,” Pacifica said, standing. “Let’s see- any objections to ‘Don’t Start Not Believing?’ You have to say yes, because I’ve already hit the button.”

Indeed she had.

“Okay, come on, Mabel,” Dipper said when she’d finished. “It’s our turn.”

“ _Our_ turn?”

“Yeah, I’m picking a duet. Wanna sing ‘Disco Girl’?”

Mabel giggled, rolling her eyes. “Ungh, you’re so _lame._ Fine.”

“Sweet!” Dipper grinned and handed her a microphone. “Let’s rock and roll!”

Mabel grinned as the terrible synthesizer started to play, and gave it her all. Meaning: she made no attempt to sound good and in fact did her best to sound awful.

_“You can dance! Party hard!”_

But, to her amusement, not as awful as Dipper.

The thrill of karaoke and the caffeine of Pitt Cola kept them up well past any rational bedtime. The leftover candy probably didn’t put them to sleep any faster, either. At twelve thirty five Gideon finally passed out in a mess of blankets, sprawled out over two mattresses. At twelve fifty three, Pacifica had finally managed to wrench away one of the sleeping bags he was clutching, kicked him onto one of the mattresses, then decided she was too good for an air mattress and sprawled out on the couch. At one oh five, she’d discovered how hard the couch was and rolled off and onto the mattress, leaving the couch free for Mabel to curl up on.

“You sure you don’t mind the floor?” she whispered to Dipper, moving to turn off the lights.

“Floor? Please, Pacifica and Gideon can cuddle, and I’ll squeeze in right here.” Dipper pushed Pacifica closer to the middle, pulled a blanket over, and laid down. “See? Comfy as-”

Pacifica rolled over onto him.

Dipper rolled his eyes. “Comfy as _two_ bugs in a rug, I guess.”

Mabel covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “Aw, isn’t she sweet?”

Dipper sighed, but Mabel could hear the smile in his voice as he pushed Pacifia off. “Let’s just go to bed already, okay?”

Mabel switched off the light. “Okay.”

“Oof,” Dipper said. Mabel turned it back on- Pacifica had pushed him off the mattress. “You know what? The floor’s good.”

She turned the light off and went to bed.

This was the night that Mabel Pines was going to remember a snapshot of her nightmare.

* * *

 

When she dreams it she will always sense that she has lived through it before but she so rarely remembers it when she wakes up.

Mabel’s dream always starts off like this: she is in a white dress and her hands are on her stomach- no, the spot at the base of her stomach, palms flat against her skin. Her eyes are screwed shut but she can hear voices around her. They are familiar. They are saying familiar things.

Her heart is beating in a way that is far too quick and light to be normal or natural. It is like a bird flapping its wings, with cold, hard hands around its body. Mabel Pines can feel something alive inside of her. She can feel its fire, she can feel its kicks.

There is someone standing right in front of her and the fire is instantly snuffed and she is _cold_ , she is turning into stone, and Mabel knows she has to look at the thing in front of her or else she’ll die, she’ll turn to stone, but she doesn’t want to more than she doesn’t want to die but then she feels a sudden pain somewhere close to her stomach, it’s sharp, it’s painful, it’s like a knife made from ice, and her nails dig in and she gasps and she can’t _help_ but open her eyes and

 

Mabel Pines is going to be thirteen in a week. She is sitting with her sweater pulled over her hands and almost over her head. Alone. In the forest.

Not alone. There is something in her hands. She feels a smooth, glass ball, feels worlds moving inside of it, knows that all she has to do is _not_ hand it to the person in front of her-

No, no, that’s wrong. She _has_ to hand it to the person in front of her, it’s the only way she can be happy-

No, she’s not supposed to, there’s something about the ball, something about the man, something she’s sure she learnt, but now she can’t remember and

 

Mabel Pines is fifteen. She is sitting with a jacket pulled over her legs. Alone. In the forest.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone

 

Mabel Pines is

Waking up

  
She is about to fall asleep but her heart is beating too quickly and too lightly and

 

“You have to sleep,” Dipper says and Mabel squeezes her fingernails into her fists

 

“You have to sleep

You have to sleep

You have to”

 

Dipper is crying

 

Mabel Pines is waiting for him at his game place. There is a man coming out. He is handsome. She says hello.

Mabel Pines is

Standing

And her dress has just been

 

Mabel Pines is alone

 

torn

 

Mabel Pines is twelve and she’s screaming _NO WAIT_ as she curls up into a ball NO WAIT NO WAIT NO as she falls asleep _NO WAIT_ when her eyes adjust and the place around her _isn’t the place she fell asleep it isn’t the place she fell asleep_ there is something inside her that’s alive and then suddenly there’s something inside her that feels more like its dead, more like a hole, there is

Mabel Pines feels a hole and -

She rolls over to look up at the ceiling. She is twelve years old.

She is sitting in the forest alone.

She is curled up and alone

She is

 

She is not going to remember anything else.

_THERE IS SOMEONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!_

* * *

Mabel swung her fist with all her might and her eye flew open. Dipper fell back and landed heavily on the air mattress.

The sudden weight drop displaced Pacifica- she bounced into the air and a little to the side, then rolled over towards Gideon. Without opening her eyes, she muttered “Dude, what the fuck?” and rolled back into place.

Mabel was shaking much harder than she should have been.

“Dipper?” she asked. “Oh, my gosh. Are you okay? Are you-”

Dipper lifted a hand. His cheek was already turning red. “It’s fine. Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she answered, still shaking.

He nodded to the kitchen. “I’m gonna go get an ice pack. Come with?” Mabel nodded and stood up, feeling unsteady. She followed him into the kitchen. “Want some tea?”

She nodded again. Dipper filled their kettle and turned it on, then opened up the freezer. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“It’s okay.”

“You sure got me good,” he laughed, rubbing his cheek.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, man. I mean, I did wake you up in the middle of- you were having a nightmare, right?” Dipper pulled out an icepack and shut the freezer.

Mabel paused, then nodded. “Yeah, I think I was.”

“Do you remember it?”

She frowned. There’d been a fire inside of her and then a hole, someone in front of her, she’d been alone in the woods… “I think I actually do remember some of it.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head.

“Okay.”

Dipper slid up onto the counter. Mabel hoisted herself up to sit next to him. He always did it so easily.

“Hey,” she asked. “Did you fall asleep in your clothes?”

Dipper glanced down. “Oh, I guess.”

“Did you take off your...”

“Shit.” Dipper glanced down at his chest, confirming Mabel’s suspicions. “I guess I did.”

“Dipper-”

Dipper pulled off his shirt. Sure enough, his binder was on. “You’re still in your costume. You should probably take your bra off.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Mabel reached under her costume to unclasp her bra and wiggle out of it. Dipper pulled off his binder to put his shirt back on. She glanced over at the microwave’s clock. “It’s three thirty.”

Dipper yawned. “Yeah.” The kettle dinged. Dipper slipped back off the counter. “What kind of tea do you want?”

“I dunno.”

“How about mint?”

“Okay.” Mabel watched him pour the water into a cup. He handed it over to her. “Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Mabel drank her tea in silence. She was beginning to feel much more still, though her insides still seemed shaky.

“Hey, Mabel,” Dipper said. “Can I ask you something about your nightmare?”

“Okay.”

“Was your nightmare about-”

Shaky, like something was tickling them, no, scratching, clawing, _kicking-_

Dipper said something but Mabel did not hear it. She had felt a draft on her neck and started so suddenly that her cup slipped from her trembling hands and crashed onto the floor. Her hands instinctively flew to her stomach. Mabel stared at Dipper, then looked down.

“Shit,” she said. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

There was a moment of silence. “Hey, it’s fine,” Dipper started to say.

Mabel hopped off the counter. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” She made a dash for the bathroom. It felt like there was something writhing in her stomach.

She hurried past the living room, where Pacifica was beginning to stir, and threw herself onto the bathroom floor. Mabel stared at the toiler and dry heaved, but nothing came up. After a while, she went back into the kitchen. Dipper had cleaned up most of the shards of her cup.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m good.” She smiled weakly. “Thanks for the tea.”

“Don’t mention it.” Dipper dumped the shards into the trash and finished wiping up the mess, then picked up his ice pack and pressed it against his cheek.

“I’m really sorry about- you know.”

Dipper grinned and lowered the ice pack, revealing the bright red mark she’d left, then slapped himself. “It’s fine, really. I can’t even feel it now.”

“I guess we should go back to bed, then?”

“Yeah, sounds good to me.”

Mabel turned and headed back toward the living room. She curled up on the couch. Dipper yanked his blanket back from Pacifica and laid down as well.

“Night, bro,” Mabel said.

“Night.”

* * *

  _Smiled and said 'yes I think we've met before'_

_In that instant it started to pour_

_-“Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” Stars_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Closing notes on this chapter!  
> 1\. OK OK so, the movie Dipper references. It's a movie that I watched a few nights ago. My sister found it online. IT'S. The movie it's. It's called. "High School Musical China" I am 100% serious it is the greatest film you will ever watch it is a chinese remake of high school musical with a somewhat different plot the teachers all sing about learning please watch it  
> 2\. The group costumes the Mabel/Pacifica/Gideon squad would be wearing evolved a lot over time. One of my original ideas were some Rocky Horror themed costumes. Then I debated long and hard about whether or not I wanted Mabel to be the "Scarecrow" or the "Tin Man" (I originally had the Scarecrow but then I changed it). I picked the Tin Man (renamed Aluminum Man) because I liked the implications it carries in regards to some of the later plot development you'll get in this and in the sequel if my plot remains the same.  
> 3\. The snake bit was a really new idea. Bill was also originally going to make a return in this chapter, but Mabel ended up not paying him a visit. Feel free to read him into the dream sequence, though.  
> 4\. Dipper and Mabel were originally going to sing "Taking Over Midnight." I decided that would either be too emotional or too significant.  
> 5\. The things happening Mabel's dream sequence involve multiple bad things that have happened to her. You might recognize Weirdmageddon reference and if you are somehow invested in my story you might catch some hints at Johnny. You may have also picked up on another reference to the time Mabel was 15. Most of the other things are plot points I've yet to fully lift the curtain on (but rest assured, I do have plans to discuss Tony, the time Mabel was 15, and much more)  
> 6\. I originally had this idea that Mabel and Dipper would somehow get into a fight after he made her a cup of tea but thankfully, that wasn't the case. That also means that the bit where Gideon walked in on Mabel hitting Dipper and quietly backed out was also cut. All the bits where Gideon walks in on something keep getting cut? What I really wanted from their scene was the contrast in what was going on- Mabel punches Dipper in the face, Dipper fusses over her and makes her a cup of tea. I was like, haha, nice. I'm sure that has some literary value or name. Irony? I don't think it's irony but? Whatever.
> 
> Thanks to all you lovelies for reading! I'll do my best to finish the next chapter amidst my return to schooling! In the next chapter, be prepared for the rock in the forest to make a return, if all goes according to plan!


	14. Best of Both Worlds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, please forgive my terrible editing!

“Slithers?” Mabel called, but it was pointless. Her brother biting snake was never coming back. So maybe the little reptile had turned out to be a traitor, but she felt a little lonely without him. Worse, she now had to catch an entirely new snake for the jar she’d brought with her. She _really_ didn’t want to tell Ford that his snake was gone, or that what he’d said was a Gardner- which Mabel was pretty sure meant not a biting jerk- was actually venomous and, according to Dipper, quite dangerous. In Mabel’s experience he liked to blame himself for things but she was pretty sure this situation was her own fault. She should never have kept such a dangerous animal as a pet. She should have researched the snake more. How could she have done something as stupid as keep a venomous snake in such a carefree way? Honestly-

Mabel’s foot caught on a root and she barely managed to catch herself on the tree it was protruding from.

“Jeez,” she muttered. At least she hadn’t twisted her ankle, though she had managed to scratch her hand. Mabel decided to take this as a sign, and traipsed back through the woods in the direction of the Shack. Bill’s statue finally came into view. Well, so long as she was here.

Mabel dropped down next to the statue, and when she blinked, the world went gray. Bill was sitting next to her, in the same position as always.

“Hey, kid.”

“Hey Bill.” Mabel stuck her hands in her pockets. “Happy late Summerween! I brought candy.”

“I don’t eat.”

“Then I’ll eat it.” Mabel pulled out a small bag of candy corn and started to munch on it. “I thought you might like this kind, cause it looks kind of like you.”

“No it doesn’t.”

Mabel examined a piece of the candy, then decided “Yes, it does.”

“Ungh.”

Mabel chewed loudly on the candy. She’d discovered that annoying Bill was really lots of fun. “I was wondering if you might know where I could find a snake. I lost my snake, but I needed his snakeskin, and also, he was my best friend.”

“How did you lose your snake?”

“Well, we had to throw it out on the porch after it went nuts and attacked Dipper.”

“Fancy that.”

“Honestly, my life’s kinda sucked lately. I did karaoke though, that was fun.”

“Alright, sheesh,” Bill said. “We’re going into the life’s story zone.”

Mabel rolled her eyes. “Never mind. How’re you?”

“I’m a rock.”

“I _know_ , Bill. How are you feeling? Do you like the weather?”

“I have no opinions on weather, at all.”

Mabel wondered if it was possible to roll her eyes harder. “Okay, I have a better question. Do you know where I can find a snake? Maybe one that’s going to shed soon?”

“Mmm, probably. Why are you always asking me to find animals in the woods?”

“Well, if I could find them on my own it wouldn’t be a problem, but I’ve turned out to be kind of bad at it.” Mabel sighed. “I guess I’m back to looking on my own, then. See you later, alligator?”

Bill did not answer. He seemed to be concentrating on something.

Mabel coughed. “Hey, Bill?”

“Alright,” Bill said. “I can teach you.”

“What?”

“Well, no offense, but you can get pret _ty_ irritating. ‘Oh, Bill, my poor snake’s run off!’ ‘Oh _Billl,_ there aren't any salamanders, anywhere!’ Really, it's exhausting.”

Mabel narrowed her eyes at him. “No offense taken.”

“Aww, that’s cute, you're lying.”

“Yeah.”

“My point is, if you can find small animals yourself, you can bother me about more important stuff, like deals, or complaining about your life, which is just so _very_ interesting, or questions about things that actually matter.”

“What about friendly visits?”

Bill blinked.

“Okay.” Mabel pulled up her legs. “How do you figure out where animals and stuff are? Is it like that energy and aura thing you told me about?”

“Pretty much!”

Mabel straightened. “Can you teach me how to see auras?!”

“Maybe, you might be the worst at magic ever.”

“Oh.”

“But we don't know yet.”

“So how do I start?” Mabel frowned, suddenly suspicious. “Let me guess, we have to make a deal. I'm not an idiot, and I'm not shaking your hand.”

“Nah,” Bill said. “That'd be stupid. Honestly, you've kind of grown on me. You're annoying, but it's endearing. Like a really loud bird.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I kind of like you.”

Mabel wasn't sure how to respond. It occurred to her that he was most definitely lying, but she decided against telling him she knew that. “Well, thanks, Bill.”

“Don't be all gross about it.”

“But Bill! That was super sweet of you-”

“ _Gross_! Let's get back on topic.” Mabel nodded and moved, so she was sitting across from him. “Have you ever meditated before?”

“I've dabbled.”

“You don't _dabble_ in magic meditation. From now on you're going to meditate every day. At least once. Maybe twice? Do you sleep everyday?”

Mabel nodded.

“Twice is best.”

“Wait, do you not sleep? What do I meditate on?”

“Hold your horses, kid, I'm getting there! Sit comfortably and close your eyes. But be ready too. Like, you're comfy, but if I came at you you wouldn't fall.”

“You won't come at me, you're a rock.”

“You have to be _very_ quiet when you meditate. This would be a lot easier in the physical realm, but thanks to you that won't be happening anytime soon. When a human being meditates they typically cross into the Mindscape, so definitely practice on your own.”

Mabel nodded, keeping her eyes firmly shut.

“To be able to sense other energies and auras, you have to be aware of your own. So concentrate on that first. How're you feeling?”

“Eh. What about you?”

“I'm not the one meditating here,” Bill snapped.

“Right, sorry.”

“Think about where your energy is coming from. Like, a heart, and breath, human stuff.”

“Wait, where do you get energy from?”

“Again, _I'm not the one meditating._ ”

Mabel suppressed a snicker. Bill probably photosynthesized. Then she told herself to focus. She tracked her breath down into her stomach, past her steady heartbeat. She felt her lungs expand.

“Now, visualize that energy spreading out. It starts off slow and seeps out from your skin. It goes out in any direction you want. Everything around you has an energy of its own, but most plants or leaves or whatever have pretty low ones compared to conscious organisms. You'll probably have to try this a few times before you actually find anything-”

“There's a giant bit right here,” Mabel told him. She was seeing lights dance in her closed eyes. “It's- _really_ loud and big and- oh, that's just you.”

“Nice job,” Bill said briskly. “In terms of energy levels, I'd rank myself as a sunburst. Now-”

“Yeah, I'm getting that off you.”

“Shut up. Now, while your energy is all, everywhere, let's try something else. At the same time, you're gonna visualize the energy in your body growing so that it's almost spilling over, and any stray energy you find coming at you like a magnet. Give that a go.”

Mabel pictured it, and heard her own breath.

“Nice job! You did it. That's really good!”

“Thanks.”

“You've really got talent!”

Mabel flushed. “Thanks,” she repeated.

“So, start to familiarize yourself with energy levels and this routine. If you work at it you won’t need it anymore. Got it?”

Mabel opened her eyes. The light made her feel a bit dizzy. She nodded.

“Wow, thanks, Bill. I feel really- refreshed?”

Bill did his blink-slash-wink thing. “That's magic for you, kiddo!”

“Well, pretty cool, if you ask me. Can I come by again tomorrow?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Mabel grinned. “Thanks a bunch!” She started to stand. “Hey, do you do that every day?”

“Nope. I don't need to.”

“Wow. Well, thanks again.”

“There are some snakes down near the river.”

“Thanks again, again!” Mabel beamed at Bill, who seemed pleased,and gave herself a pinch. She woke up on her feet, looking down at the statue. She gave Bill’s hat a little pat. “See you later, alligator!”

She could almost hear his response.

Mabel started back towards the Shack. She hadn’t felt this well rested in a _long_ time. In fact, she was actually feeling pretty great.

She hummed the tune to “Disco Girl” as she opened the door to the gift shop. It was still part way through remodeling- though (hopefully) all of the spiders and bugs had been relocated, she was still in the process of sorting through all the merchandise. Everything from the shelves had been counted sorted into piles on the floor by Dipper, while Mabel used a similar process to get through all the stock Stan had hidden away. Even now, she still found herself surprised by how much room there was inside the Shack. There were so many nooks and crannies. It was like a spooky mansion, but more homey.

Mabel locked the door behind her, and crossed through the shop and into the living room. Dipper was sprawled out on the couch with a bowl in his hands.

“Hey,” she greeted him, beaming. Dipper glanced up and grinned.

“Hey. You’re in a good mood.”

Mabel laughed. Was it that noticeable? “Yeah, I-”

She stopped. Dipper didn’t know about her maybe-almost-buddies-or-whatever-she-had with Bill, and he would probably freak out if she told him the triangle was still alive, let alone that she’d been hanging out with him. He’d _definitely_ tell her to stop hanging out with him, and maybe even go out in the woods to have some kind of epic showdown with him. Which was probably for the best, but Mabel had _just_ started to crack Bill, and what’s more, she was learning demon-y magic stuff! If she cut things off now, her potential friendship with Bill could be destroyed forever.

“I just feel kinda great,” Mabel told Dipper. “I had this _super_ good nap.” Well, at least that was true. So she wasn’t really lying, just leaving out the important fact that a dream demon had also been involved in the nap.

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“Whatcha eatin’?” Mabel plopped down on the couch next to Dipper, eager to move the subject away from her mood.

“Eh, just ice cream and cereal.”

“Frosted flakes?”

“Nah, corn flakes. We don’t have any frosted flakes.”

“We _don’t_.”

Dipper nodded sadly. Mabel was suddenly appalled at their family’s shopping skills.

“I’ll make sure to get some,” she vowed, putting her hand over her heart. “And that is a _promise._ ”

Dipper laughed. “You better. Hey, how’d the snake hunt go?”

“Pretty good!” Mabel said, then remembered her decision not to include the dream demon in conversations with Dipper. “I mean, I didn’t find Slithers. Or any other snakes, but, it was alright.”

“Mm.”

Mabel glanced over at Dipper. He was looking at his ice cream with a weird expression. Did he know she was pretty much lying to him? “Hey, what’s on your mind?”

Dipper shrugged, looking up from his ice cream. “Just lost in thought, I guess.”

He reached into his pocket, and Mabel could see that he was fidgeting with something. After a moment, he pulled his hand back out, closed into a fist. “Could I give you something?”

“Uh, sure.”

Dipper uncurled his fist. “I found this at a thrift store a little while back. I sort of bought it without thinking and it’s kind of been like a lucky charm or something and I- I’ve kinda been wanting to give it to you.”

He was holding a hair clip, that looked to be older than her. It was made with cheap colored plastic. She reached out to take it.

“It’s a shooting star,” Dipper said. “I mean, obviously. But that’s why it made me think of you. And why I got it too, I guess. A little bit of luck could help with your nightmares.”

Mabel had no idea how to feel, but she managed to smile as she pocketed the clip. “Thanks,” she said, meaning it. Dipper smiled back.

“Sure. Hey, before I forget, Gideon came by.”

“He did?”

“Yeah, we hung out?” Dipper laid back onto the couch, shovelling a spoon of his ice cream into his mouth. “He said he wanted to hang out with you, but then he came in for coffee and spent, like, an hour talking about my show. Apparently he’s been watching it and is almost caught up.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep! He said it was very authentic, and he actually said that he’s got this huge library I can use if I ever want to do research. He has lots of super rare books on artifacts, all sorts of stuff. Apparently he started collecting books when he was a kid.”

“Cause of the journal and town-controlling stuff?”

“Probably. Except something in bail says he can’t technically read any of his books anymore, but there’s this loophole about pleasure reading and research reading. Basically he’s not _supposed_ to read them, but there aren’t any rules about owning them and _accidentally_ reading them, since there’s this blur between nonfiction and fiction. It’s pretty lawyer-y. So I’m going over later this week to look at some of them. We might do a book trade.”

“Are you serious? Are you guys friends now?”

“Ew, no. Anyway, he really likes the show, but he kept insulting my acting. He’s really into it, aside form that. Oh, also, why didn’t you tell me about the tattoos?”

Mabel frowned. “The tattoos?”

“Okay, you didn’t know either, you’re excused from not telling me. Gideon has tattoos?”

“He _does?”_

“Yeah!” Dipper straightened. “He started telling me about prison when we were talking about his bail, and he told me he had tattoos! I didn’t believe him, then he rolled up his sleeves to show me some of them!”

“Oh my gosh,” Mabel giggled. “You’re _kidding._ ”

“I’m not kidding! He has these really pretty stars right here,” Dipper pointed to his upper arm. “He said that he learned how to give tattoos too, and that he gave his prison buddies some. He said ‘prison buddies.’ He actually said that!”

Mabel sniggered. “No, I don’t believe you.”

“He said he had a special slang tattoo on his shoulder, that’s for attempted murder! Because he’s _attempted murder!_ And I asked him when, and then he just looked me for a few seconds and I was like _oooh,_ because-”

Mabel started to laugh. “Because he tried to kill you!”

“Yeah!”

She collapsed back onto the couch. “Ha! That’s great!”

“Right?”

Mabel wiped her eyes. “Aw, man, Gideon has _tattoos._ I can’t wait until Pacifica hears this.”

“You should totally ask to see him next time you guys hang out. They’re fantastic.”

“Ooh, I _have_ to.”

“He also said that his dad wants to have a barbecue, so you’re invited to that.”

“Yay! I’ll make my famous macaroni salad!”

“I warned him about that.”

Mabel gave him a playful shove. “You suck, Dipper. Hey, do we have any fancy magic books?”

“I guess, why?”

“I dunno. I’m kind of thinking of doing a magic thing in one of my comics.”

“Cool! Great Uncle Ford has loads of stuff downstairs, and I have a few of my travel books, just let me know if you want to take a look.”

Mabel nodded. “Awesome. Well, I’m gonna go take a nap… again. Later, Dipstick!” She jumped up and reached over to ruffle his hair before heading for the stairs again. She really wanted to give the meditation a try again, before she forgot. She closed the door to her room and sat down on the floor, closing her eyes tight. She repeated the process Bill had taught her, and then started to look around for other energy forms. To her delight, she was quickly able to find Dipper downstairs, and Ford in the basement. She opened her eyes, and decided that she should have ice cream and corn flakes as a reward.

She hurried out of her room and toward the kitchen, where she scooped her ice cream and poured her cereal. When she returned to the living room, Dipper was still eating his.

Mabel blinked. For a moment, she thought she was seeing things, but she _wasn’t._ Dipper had a faint blue glow. She squealed.

Dipper looked up. “Yeah?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said, and dropped back onto the couch. _I can just see your aura, is all. No biggie! Go Mabel!_ “Do you want to watch some TV?”

“Sure.” Dipper reached for the remote. Mabel shovelled ice cream into her mouth and suppressed another squeak. Today was a great day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, a few parting notes!  
> 1\. Dipper and Mabel have both needed a little extra bonding with Gideon, because all their bonding with Pacifica has already happened, in canon and in the backstory for this fic. But I don't want Gideon to have all of the spotlight, so please let me know if you'd like to see some of the Pines twins previous escapades with Pacifica addressed in this fic or in the sequel!  
> 2\. I've worked on some rough (p rough) concept art/character designs for this fic and honestly, I cannot stop doodling my aged up Mabel. I'm thinking of putting some of it up on my tumblr or something, so if you guys would like to see anything, please let me know! Mabel, Dipper, Gideon, and Pacifica all have special TMF looks that I am very into. Bill also has his Zodiac sweater.  
> 3\. it just (literally just) hit me that I have a Tambry/Robbie interaction with huge symbolic significance that I still haven't written into my outline oh my  
> 4\. some stuff about dipper's show: (A) Pacifica has seen literally every episode. I'm not saying she's shipper trash or anything, but she's definitely at the point of having read a few fics, and probably follows all the cast twitters and watches all the bonus footage, etc. (B) Gideon basically went home after that one hangout sesh and started to binge the show, but I originally had this idea that Dipper and him had a deal: Dipper would let Gideon sell him a car if, and only if, Gideon watched his show. Just to get at Dipper, Gideon then binged the entire show and sold him a car. Maybe that still happened behind the scenes, and Mabel just didn't know? (C) Dipper plays a huge role in the show; not only is he the main character, he's also the creator, a writer, a director, and he does some extra stuff on the side too (remind you of anyone?) (D) the overall show is a lot like Supernatural, it follows two folks as they fight monsters, etc, except it takes a lot more inspiration from stuff that's real, and it has a more diverse core cast. The two main characters aren't actually siblings, but there's a pretty big theory that they are, rivaled in size only by their shippers. (E) I have some entire plot lines worked out for this show that reference this fic, Gravity Falls, and Pines family backstories, so if I ever make a SPN-eque TV show... (F) The show is known for it's CRAZY use of music. And finally (G) the cover of the show depicts a few pine trees underneath a crescent moon, but there's an eyeball inside the moon, sort of akin to Night Vale, but more round and still rather different.  
> 5\. I've been playing around with a gravity falls au of my own, frontier falls. It's still in the works but I've got a few sketches up in anyone's interested.
> 
> Have a lovely day!


	15. Friends and Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist is up, link in fic!

**_[Here's the playlist!](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3plHgKghKM98k05q_071YtgCjeGIfjTv) _ **

* * *

 

Mabel was making salt glitter when the door to the kitchen opened. She looked up, expecting Dipper, and nearly dropped her tray when she saw Ford. He didn’t say anything, and sat down at the kitchen table.

“Hey, Grunkle Ford,” she said after a moment.

“Good morning, Mabel. Did you sleep well?”

“Pretty good.” She’d had a few bad dreams, but she couldn’t remember any of them, and she was almost sure the meditations had been driving some of the worst away.

“Do you know if Dipper’s in?”

Mabel bent over to pour the salt into a bowl. “Sorry, but he just headed out. He’s going over to see a friend of mine about some books.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, I thought you might be him, so I was kind of surprised. Why?”

“Oh, nothing important. What’re you making?”

“Just glitter. Do you want some breakfast while I’m at it?”

“Actually, that would be wonderful.”

Mabel nodded. “Okay, just let me finish this up.” She squeezed a drop of food coloring into the salt, then began to mix it with her hands. She spread it over the tray to cook, then stuck it in the oven. “Okay, any requests.”

“You’re sure it won’t be any trouble?”

“Sure, I haven’t had any food yet either.”

Ford nodded solemnly. “If you say so. Alright, do we have any eggs?”

“I gotcha covered. Is scrambled good?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Mabel cracked a few eggs and scrambled them in silence. She handed Ford a plate and made one for herself, then pulled out her tray and moved the glitter back into her bowl.

“Want any salt?” she asked as she sat down.

Ford gave the bowl an apprehensive look, then grinned. “I don’t see why not.” He sprinkled some of the glitter onto his eggs, and tucked in. Mabel followed suit.

“Hey,” she said after a moment. “Grunkle Ford, I was talking to Dipper and he said you had some books about magicky stuff downstairs. Do you?”

“I most certainly do. Why, what are you looking for?”

“Well, I’ve kind of gotten into meditation lately. I’ve been wanting to do a bit of research into energy and auras and such, for my comic, mostly. Maybe some Mindscape stuff. Do you have anything?”

Ford’s expression darkened. “I do, but there’s some dangerous stuff in the Mindscape. I locked up most of my books on it after Bill took advantage of me.”

“It’s all for hypothetical stuff, just research.”

“I’ll see what I can pull out.”

“Oh, and this is kind of random, but… what do you mean, when Bill took advantage of you? Dipper told me you had some sort of history with him, and he’s in your journals and stuff, but I don’t know that much about it. I hope you don’t mind me asking.”

Ford smiled. “I never told you? Well, it certainly was a much bigger deal when I told Dipper about it, what with Weirdmaggeddon and the portal, and much fresher in my mind. But there really isn’t much to it. When I was studying anomalies in Gravity Falls I hit a dead end, but then I found some ancient writing in a cave. Being the young investigator that I was, I immediately read them aloud. Later, when I fell asleep, I met Bill in the Mindscape. To make a long story short, he told me that he was a muse and had chosen me as his brilliant disciple, fed me all sorts of flattery, and gave me instructions to build a portal to complete my research. I called Fiddleford for some help on it, but in our test he was pulled in and caught a glimpse of Bill’s real plans.”

“Weirdmaggeddon?”

“You got it. One thing led to another, and I hid my journals and put a metal plate in my head.”

“A plate?”

“Once you let a demon in your head, it’s difficult to get them to leave... Well, I can hardly expect you to understand my relationship with Bill. So long as I’m up here, I’ve been thinking of doing some painting. Would you mind sitting for me?”

Mabel blinked. Ford’s sudden question had caught her off guard. When she was younger, she’d sat as a model for Ford before, but it had been a long time since then.

“Course,” she said. “Just let me finish my eggs.” She crammed the last of her breakfast into her mouth and dropped their plates in the sink. “Okay, let’s go.” She followed Ford into the basement. “Could we grab some books while we’re down here?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks so much, Grunke Ford!” Mabel beamed. Ford opened the door to his study and flicked the lights on.

“You can take a look at the shelves in here, if you like. Just let me get my paints out.”

Mabel nodded and headed over to examine the bookshelf. She nearly tripped over something, and glanced down. It was a statue. Of Bill.

Mabel kicked it through the door. Ford didn't seem to notice.

She skimmed the titles on the shelf, and pulled down a few that looked promising. She looked out toward the statue on the staircase.

“Do you have any books about Bill?” she asked.

“Not out at the moment. Should I pull those out when I look for the others?”

“I'd like that a lot.”

Ford dropped his paints into his desk and began to set up an easel. “I'm very grateful to have you sitting for me, Mabel. It's been a long time since I painted.”

“Anytime! It's lots of fun, I've always liked painting with you.”

Ford smiled. He suddenly seemed tired, more than he'd ever seemed before. “Yes, those certainly were good times.” Honestly, all the good times Mabel had spent in Gravity Falls seemed too far away to exist. Especially the good times with Ford. “Alright, here we are.”

Mabel sat down, as still as she could get. Maybe now would be a good time to work on her aura skills- she was getting pretty good, if she said so herself. Bill had also said so, pretty reluctantly.

“Hey, Grunkle Ford, what sort of flattery did Bill use on you?”

“All sorts. Could you turn a bit more to the left?” Mabel did so. “Perfect.”

“Did he compliment you a lot?”

“He never stopped.”

It was a little reassuring to know that. Bill was definitely keeping his flattery on the down low, so maybe he wasn't just trying to trick her. Better yet, she knew his flattery might be fake, so she had the jump on him.

“Did he ever apologize?”

Ford sighed. “No, Mabel, he did not. Bill was an asshole.”

“Heh, yeah. What would you do if he came back?”

Ford paused in his painting. “You've been asking a lot of questions concerning Bill. Is there a reason?”

“No!”

“Are you sure?”

Mabel felt a wave of panic coming on. “No, I just noticed that you had that statue and stuff. I got kinda curious. Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about it.”

“It's fine. Could you tilt your head a bit more- there you go. You've got a sort of talent for this.”

Mabel couldn't help but wonder what Bill’s story about Ford was. Maybe he had some apology or compliment he'd been saving for the past few years. Or maybe he was an asshole- probably the latter.

She gave her newfound aura vision a try. Ford had a solid orange-red line around him. She was still figuring out the colors, but maybe he was irritated, or even angry. Red could be an angry color.

Ford finished his painting after one, in time for a late lunch. Mabel had just started to heat up some leftovers when she heard the door open.

“I'm home!” Dipper shouted.

“Lunch in the kitchen!” Mabel called back. He entered a few moments later, grinning. She decided to give him a try too. Weird- his aura was gray and white, blurred like a bad television channel. “How was Gideon’s?”

“Pretty good! I figured out how he's so tall, so I think the day was a success.”

“What do you mean?”

“He didn't get his dad’s tall genes, he's just faking. He lent me some pretty great books. Hey, Great Uncle Ford.”

“Hello, Dipper. What sort of books were you looking at?”

Dipper shrugged. “Supernatural and demon stuff. When in Rome, you know?”

Ford shot a look at Mabel. “Demons, you say?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You two seem to be very _into_ demons lately.” Ford swiped a newspaper from the counter and sat down to read it.

Dipper sat down as well. “What do you mean?”

His aura was getting bigger and the blur was blurring faster.

Ford’s was turning yellow-white.

Mabel set a plate of leftover Chinese food down. “Our old triangle buddy sort of came up in conversation.”

“... Did he?”

Dipper gave Ford a hard look, and Ford gave him a look that seemed to suggest they'd be having a discussion later.

“Are you guys okay?” Mabel asked.

Dipper frowned. “What?”

“You're both acting kind of weird,” she said. _It's seriously freaking me out._

Dipper laughed. “I'm not weird, you're weird.”

Mabel snorted. “Nerds. Okay, I think I'm gonna go on a walk. I'll see you _nerds_ later.”

She headed out as quickly as she could and took a trail into the forest. When she was sure Dipper hadn't come out after her, she turned off into the bushes and headed toward Bill’s statue.

Maybe was getting pretty good as knocking herself into the Mindscape. She didn't even need Bill’s help anymore. She made the switchover from reality while she was still walking over to him, and sat down on the gray ground.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.”

“How are you?”

“I'm a rock.”

“Awesome. So, Bill, I've been thinking. If we're going to be friends, we need to talk about some stuff.”

“We're going to be friends?”

Mabel gave him a _look_. “I'm not kidding, dude. We need to have a serious talk about some stuff that's happened.”

“What, like, recently?”

“Some of it. First off, Dipper’s car has been getting really scratched up.”

“So?”

“So, do you have anything do with it?”

“No? I'm not _that_ petty. I'm more of a send them dead animals sort of revenger.”

Mabel smiled. “Okay, that's good. Now, there's also Grunkle Ford.”

“What about him?”

“I wanted to talk about your friendship thing.”

“We did _not_ have a thing.”

“What did you have?”

“Nothing,” Bill snapped. “Next question.”

“Don't you feel bad for what happened? Couldn't you guys have been really good pals in another life?”

Bill rolled his eye. “No, your uncle’s a square. He doesn't like fun at all. Me, I like fun. You, you like fun. Him? It's all, you shouldn't joke about mutilation, Bill. We aren't pals.”

“You don't feel bad about how you guys were?”

“I feel bad that he sucked and ruined a bunch of stuff.”

“Oh.” Mabel had been hoping for a different answer. “Weirdmageddon stuff?”

“Yep.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that, also. Do you feel sorry about Weirdmageddon at all?”

Bill sighed. “Look, Mabel, you don't seem to be getting this. I don't feel sort for anything, ever. And I never ever _ever_ apologize. It's not my style.”

“But-”

“No buts.”

“Bill, Weirdmaggeddon was _really_ bad,” Mabel told him. Maybe she could at least get him to admit that.

“Yeah, that's why it was so great.”

“No, that's why it was so bad! Lots of people got hurt! Everyone has bad dreams for a really long time. It was so bad that some people thought it was better to forget a _bunch_ of stuff instead of remember it! Isn't that a bad thing?”

“Eh.”

“Bill!”

“I don't know what you want me to say. It was pretty fun.”

“Look, Bill, you're just- I’m trying to understand you, okay? I _want_ to get along with you. I don't want us to argue! Was that really _that_ much fun? Is that really the only thing you actually find super fun?”

“Yep.”

“I almost died in Weirdmaggeddon! _You_ almost killed me and Dipper!”

“Yep.”

“You tortured Grunkle Ford!”

“Sure did.”

“You statued everyone!”

“That was a good chair,” Bill said fondly. “Hey, You're turning all red.”

Mabel's hands flew up to her cheeks. They were hot. Even worse, she could feel a cry coming on.

“Mood ring,” Bill snickered.

Mabe felt her nails digging into her skin. “Bill, please! It was really a super not great thing! Can't you say that!”

“Why?”

“Because you're my friend and I want to think you feel _bad_ for practically ruining my life!”

“Okay,” Bill said dismissively. “Fine, it was _not_ great. _Super_ not great. We good?”

That was too much. Mabel’s cheeks got wet. “No! We aren't good!”

“Well, that's your fault.”

“It is _not_ my fault! It's your fault! It was _all_ your fault! Can you not be a jerk for five seconds?”

“Are you crying?”

“No!” Mabel shouted. “This was a waste of time. I'm going home!”

“Whatever, fine. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.”

“I'll let the door hit whatever I want!” Mabel kicked the ground with as much force as she could muster, dislodging a chunk of the dirt near Bill. She spun on her heel without bothering to share a goodbye with Bill. He didn't deserve an alligator or a crocodile. He only deserved a _punch_.

What a _jerk_. Mabel couldn't believe she'd thought for a second they might be able to get along, and maybe even be almost-friends. She'd been so _stupid._ He was a demon! Bill was a world-wrecking demon!

Mabel swapped over from the Mindscape and threw open the gift shop door. When she peeked into the living room, Dipper and Ford were nowhere to be found. She made a dash for the stairs, locked herself in her room, and let all the tears break loose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be wary of demons, no matter what form they take.  
> 1\. Salt glitter is an actual thing you can create!!! Salt + food coloring + a bit of baking so the coloring sets!  
> 2\. So happy that my baby Mabel is also starting to feel happy <3 not for long, though, if I have a say in the matter!  
> 3\. I am so, SO sorry but I ended up splitting the next chapter into two so now the appearance I've been getting pumped for won't happen until chapter 18, I'm the worst.  
> 4\. There's gonna be a huge backstory dump next chapter but it's not quite all the info yet, just some of Mabel's romantic history, and I hope it's well written. Also, tattoos on u kno who, but I've yet to decide how/when we'll learn his secret to his height. He has a height secret. Shh.  
> 5\. I may add I Know It's Over to the official playlist, so I'll leave this here to remind myself :)  
> Love y'all!


	16. Something in the Air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy May! I've become obsessed with working on this because I love it so much, and am actually almost done. Right now, I'm working on writing chapter 20, so... I'm trying not to post all my new chapters at once though, because, well, I don't want it to end too quickly.
> 
> TW- Mabel talks a bit about some of her past relationships, and mentions Johnny's abuse.  
> I'd also like to formally apologize for Gideon, but that's just my Gideon being unbearable, you can probably handle that.
> 
> I had this weird moment a few days ago where I looked in a mirror, which I cut short awhile back, and I was like haha, I look kind of like Mabel from my fic! And then I was like, o h . So that happened.

“Okay,” Pacifica said. “I locked the door. Now will you take your shirt off?”

“No!” Gideon snapped. “I told you, you can see the ones my arms, but everything else is personal!” He folded his arms purposefully, and sat down on Pacifica’s comfiest chair.

“Ungh.” Pacifica flung herself on her bean bag. “Mabel, you do it.”

“I can't fight Gideon,” Mabel said. “I'm eating cookies on your bed. Everything in that sentence goes against fighting Gideon.”

“You don't have to fight him, just tell him to take his shirt off. He'll do it if you tell him.”

“No!” Mabel shouted, blushing.

Gideon, who was also turning pink, made a point of folding his arms more. “I said _no_ , Pacifica!”

“That's _baiting!”_ Mabel said. Pacifica started laughing. “Pacifica!”

“No force on earth can change my mind,” Gideon finished, looking very high and mighty. And red.

Mabel rolled over onto her stomach. “Hey. Gideon.”

“No, Mabel!”

“Take off your shirt.”

Gideon flushed. “Give me a cookie.”

“See, Paz, it didn't work.” Mabel started to hand him one, but Pacifica lifted a hand.

“No cookies for those who don't obey me.”

“Ooh!” Mabel took a bite out of the cookie. “Bribery!”

“That's not bribery,” Gideon said.

“No,” Mabel said. “It is. Stan explained all the laws about bribery to me when I was twelve, so I knew what not to say if the police came.” Mabel chewed her cookie thoughtfully. “Actually, maybe that was what I was _supposed_ to do. I can't really remember.”

“You're so weird,” Pacifica said, pulling out her phone. “Gideon, will you take your shirt off if I disable my phone? So I can't take any photos?”

“Rich people have security cameras everywhere.”

“Fuck you.”

“I'll give you the deed to the Mystery Shack,” Mabel offered.

“Really?”

“No, sorry.”

“Eh. I’m not allowed to manage supernatural themed businesses anyway.”

“You're so _lame,”_ Pacifica whined. “I can't believe I hang out with you guys. Except you, Mabel. I love you.”

“Aw, I love you too.”

Gideon groaned. “I hate my life.”

“Mabel will take off her shirt if you take off yours.”

“Ew,” Mabel said. “No I won't. Gideon, tell her no.”

Gideon shook his head solemnly.

“Just ring for some chocolate pudding,” Mabel told Pacifica. “That'll get him to open up.”

Pacifica looked skeptical, but when Gideon turned to Mabel with a betrayed and anguished look, she jumped to buzz the kitchen.

“Can you bring us some chocolate pudding? Ooh, yeah, lots of whipped cream. Mmhmm. Thanks.”

“I trusted you,” Gideon hissed. “A day will soon come when you regret this moment.”

Mabel glanced down. “Ahh! This is the last cookie!”

“Vengeance!”

Mabel gave Pacifica a hard look. “If the pudding doesn't work, try tickling him.” Pacifica nodded gravely.

Gideon sighed. “Mabel, why must you always break my heart?”

Mabel stuck out her tongue and finished the cookie.

The pudding arrived a moment later. The second the door shut, Gideon was had his shirt over his head.

“I hate you,” he wailed, and threw it onto the floor. Pacifica handed him the pudding, and Gideon started to shove angry spoonfuls into his mouh.

“Ooh,” Pacifica said. “I don't know why you were embarrassed, these are really good. I mean, the cat one is a little silly-”

“Shut up. I got them when I was, like, ten. Shut up.”

“I like the cat,” Mabel told him. “He's cute and nonthreatening. And Dipper was right, you do have pretty stars!”

“Show us the ones on your chest!” Pacifica told him.

_“No!”_

“Come _on.”_

Gideon adjusted his grip on his pudding, making his chest more visible. “I can't believe you!”

Mabel decided now was a good time to take an interest in Pacifica’s bookshelves. She hadn't looked long, but a few things- a burning pine tree, her name in cursive, dumb kid stuff- was enough to ward her off.

“Oh,” Pacifica said. “What's this one on your back?” Gideon sighed and shifted in the chair. Mabel started to turn back around. “Ooh! That's super cool!”

Mabel glanced over. Oh, fuck no.

“What is it?”

“It's nothing, it's just-”

“Dipper has one of those,” Mabel said quickly, exchanging a look with Gideon. “It's a hieroglyphic decodery ring thing.”

“Mmhmm, yeah. Well, that's all of them!” Gideon snatched his shirt from the floor and yanked it on, balancing his pudding between his knees. He quickly hid the circle of symbols.

Mabel had recognized the Zodiac instantly. After all, she'd stayed up all night making _asshole_ Bill a friendship sweater with one.

Pacifica narrowed her eyes. “You swear there aren't any on your butt?”

“Ew, _no._ ” Gideon picked his pudding back up. Mabel gave their auras a check. Gideon was pink- embarrassed, maybe? Pacifica was a relaxed shade of lavender- a mix of cool blue and confidant lavender. Mabel was getting pretty good at this.

“Disco Girl” started blaring loudly. Mabel moaned and picked up her phone, but Dippe had already hung up. She saw a few texts from him lighting her screen:

_Wondering if u can come home early?_

_Not sure if I can give u a ride. Home in an hour?_

_Can G drop u off maybe?_

_its kinda important_

_*it’s_

_Nvm_

_Actually please try to get back early if u can_

_But also pick up Frosted Flakes if u have time?_

_actually maybe don't_

“Sorry, guys, Dipper wants me to come home early. Can one of you give me a ride?”

“You know I hate driving,” Pacifica rolled her eyes.

“Lazy,” Gideon shot at her. “I'll do it.”

Mabel smiled wearily. “Thanks, Gideon. Pacifica, bag.”

Pacifica snatched her purse off the floor and held it out. “I'll see you dorks later.” Mabel hopped up from her bed and grabbed her purse.

“We'll miss you too, Pazzy.” She knocked her with the purse. “C’mon, Gideon.”

Gideon stuck a final spoon of pudding in his mouth. “Coming! See you, Paz.”

He fished his keys out of his pocket as they headed down the staircase. Gideon still seemed a little uneasy. He unlocked his car door for her, and sat down to drive. Mabel really liked Gideon’s car. It made her think of fancy cowboys and punch buggies.

“Straight to the Shack?” he asked.

“That'd be great,” Mabel said. Gideon turned up the AC and handed her his aux cord. She plugged in her phone to blare his secret favorite: electro swing. It was weird, but good.

Gideon hummed along and tapped his finger against the driver’s wheel. Neither of them spoke on the road through town. They were soon in the trees.

“Hey, can you pull over?” Mabel nudged Gideon and pointed to a space by the side of the road.

“Sure thing.” Gideon turned into the spot and parked the car, and Mabel paused the music. “Something the matter?”

“Yeah, I-” Mabel went to undo her seatbelt. “Hang on, this isn't opening-”

Gideon went white and reached over to undo it. “Here pumpkin, it get stuck sometimes, sorry…”

It sprang open. Mabel pulled up her knees.

“I wanted to talk to you about some of my romantic life and stuff,” Mabel told him. “Because Pacifica knows some stuff about it but I'm not really sure what you know, and I also know that you-”

Gideon nodded. “Okay.”

Mabel turned to look at the trees. “I'm sorry. This probably isn't the most convenient time or anything but a few days ago a friend of mine was super shitty and I wanted to let you know, because you've been nice to me, but- you've also- been shitty before. No offense.”

“Course not.”

“Okay. So,” Mabel held her hands together and began to toy with her fingers. “I've always really liked people and wanted to be around people and trust people, I also used to really liked to date people because I like approval and also really craved some cliche romantic connection or something. Then when I was a sophomore in highschool I had this very serious long term relationship that didn't end up working out, which kind of hit me hard, because they just sort of showed themselves out after we broke up and stopped talking to me. Then I dated his one awful guy for a few weeks because I couldn't get him to back off, then Dipper punched him in the face, and I also punched him in the face and we both got suspended. The next guy I dated was right towards the end of high school, this guy named Johnny. Um, Dipper actually told me that he told you a bit about him. Johnny started to- well- he was really sweet for a long time but after a few months-”

Gideon took off his own seatbelt so he could face her better. Mabel wiped her cheeks and looked out the window. The trees were faded like in a Polaroid picture, that dusty green that could only be found in the heat of summer, and the leaves were still.

“I don't even remember what it was, he got mad at me or something, and he started to- hurt me. He would grab my arm so hard that he left bruises and push me into the walls but I just kept telling myself it was fine until he actually gave me a black eye and then some of the people around me sort of- I don't really know where Johnny is right now.” Mabel sucked in a deep breath. “Then I dated this girl after him that was also really sweet but she was just so needy and controlling and it got _awful_.” Mabel glanced over at Gideon. “I sort of started to figure out that I was pansexual in high school, but I've never been _super_ sure about how I identify and I just kind of- I gave up awhile ago because honestly, I never want to date anyone again ever.”

Gideon nodded in understanding. Mabel could hear bugs and birds in the woods, a low buzz like a motor engine, and the sound of Gideon’s AC. It had been so hot outside. It was so cold in here. Mabel looked down at her hands and pulled them apart, then pushed them back together.

“So there was Tony,” Mabel said. “Who is the _worst_ one I've dated, ever. We were couple for over a year and were kind of set to be together forever when he was like surprise! I'm the worst! And I had insomnia for _ages_ but he kind of went away about seven or eight months ago, so that's good. Anyway, I, I just sort of-”

Mabel bit her lip and tried to clear her head. Her chest was heaving.

She could hear so many birds. There was a symphony in the woods. The sky was blue. The AC was such a welcome change from the still, sticky outside, but she could still feel the heat humming against her head and-

Gideon reached over to grab one of her hands.

“I'm sorry,” Mabel said. “This came out of nowhere-”

“It's _fine_.”

Mabel nodded tearfully. “Thanks.” She wiped her nose. “I just kind of wanted to- thanks for- I mean, when we were little, I just-”

Gideon nodded. Mabel sucked in another long, deep breath. She wiped her eyes and steadied her heart beat.

“Okay,” she said, forcing herself to stay steady. “Now I'm going into serious mode. We need to talk about Bill Cipher, okay? Start driving.”

Gideon shifted gears and started back on the road to the Shack. “Cipher? Why?”

“The first thing you should know is that he’s dead,” Mabel said firmly. “I was there and I saw it.”

“That explains a lot.”

“But if he ever does come back or anything like him ever shows up, I want to get this clear. Bill is super, _super_ dangerous. He acts all friendly and charming and then he crushes hearts and stuff. And he always, _always_ takes advantage of any situation he's in. Most importantly, he wants nothing less than global domination and the end of society.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you're my friend,” Mabel said. “It really freaks me out that you have a tattoo of him because if Bill ever came back, he'd probably be like, Gideon’s my slave now! Plus I don't want him to ruin your life or anything. Also, one time he tried to kill me and my family. He's not nice.”

“Well, alright then. I haven't heard from him in years, so I don't think you have a thing to worry about.”

“Also, he can _possess_ people. That’s really important. If you shake his hand, that’s it, he can possess you.”

“... Oh.”

“I mean, I think he has to possess you at that moment, but like, you know. He’s also a liar and a bitch. And a fucker. One time he possessed Dipper, and pushed me off a balcony. This other time he tried to make a people throne. He’s super mean. When's the last time you tried to summon him?”

Gideon frowned thoughtfully. “It's a little blurry, to be honest. I can only remember meeting him twice but- well, truth be told, I don't remember what our second deal even was. He stopped showing up after that. That’s strange, I can’t remember it very-”

“That’s not your fault,” Mabel said quickly. “You know, life fucks with you, your head and stuff. Anyway, if something like Bill ever shows up, just stall them and call me. I know how to whip up a magic barrier that’ll stop them from entering any location. It’s pretty cool. It has unicorn hair.”

“Unicorn hair?”

“Right! We’ve had one around the Shack for like, ever. I went on this great unicorn quest, which was my second quest, ever. My first quest had a hot elf and a math wizard, and death muffins, remind me to tell you about it sometime! They were _so_ much fun. I think everyone should go on quests, especially unicorn quests. I got to fight the unicorns!”

“You fought them?”

Mabel narrowed her eyes. “Unicorns are jerks.”

“Really? Huh. Wouldn’t have figured that.”

“Yeah.” Mabel grinned. “They’re wimps, though. You just start punching them, and pull their hair, and they freak out!”

Gideon sniggered. “Is that so?”

“Yeah! And they have rave horns!”

Gideon turned to pull up to Shack, laughing. “Okay, here’s your stop, hon.”

Dipper was standing outside. He turned at the sound of the car.

“Don’t go fighting unicorns anytime soon without m-”

Gideon fell silent.

“Gideon?”

“Me,” Gideon finished. He parked and let go of the wheel, picking her hand up again, and looked at her with an intent focus. “Mabel, hon, thanks for talking to me about all of this.”

“Sure thing, buddy-o. Don’t mention it.” Gideon let go of her hand and unbuckled his seatbelt, then came around to open her door for her. Mabel smiled. “Thanks, Gideon!”

“Can I walk you inside?”

“That’s okay. See you later, pal!”

Mabel hugged Gideon and waved to Dipper as she hurried inside. She saw Dipper approaching Gideon when she turned around to shut the door.

She let out a long breath of air. That had been heavy. Once Dipper was back inside she’d check in with him, see why he’d wanted her to come home early, then maybe she’d go for a walk. It was really nice out.

Mabel turned on the television for some background noise, and made herself a snack. Dipper came in through the back a little while later.

“Hey, Mabel.”

“Hey, Dip-dip.” Mabel finished filling up her water bottle and tucked it into her backpack. “What’s up?”

“Eh, nothing big. Sorry I couldn’t pick you up, Lisa’s taken ill.”

“What?” Mabel dropped her backpack. “Noo!”

Dipper laughed. “Don’t worry, she’ll be okay. Anyway, sorry I was just sort of sitting around outside, Gideon’s dad came to pick her up and I wanted to see her off.”

Mabel rolled her eyes. “You _dork._ Do you want half a sandwich?”

“What kind?”

“PB and honey.”

“Totally.”

Mabel handed Dipper half of the sandwich she’d just made, then packed the other half for herself. “Was something up? I sorta got the feeling that you wanted to talk to me about something.”

Dipper reached up to fix his hair. “Mostly I just needed to get Lisa into the shop and wanted to make sure you had a ride home, so. I was also getting this bad feeling, but it’s cleared up now.”

“Man, everyone’s acting weird today.” Mabel stuck out her tongue. “Must be the heat. Speaking of which, I might go for a walk. Do you wanna come with?”

“Actually, I think I’m gonna tinker with the AC system. While Gideon and I were waiting he gave me a few tips, and it’s _so_ hot in here. I’ve had the windows open all day, but it’s done absolutely nothing.”

“Oh, _good._ ” Mabel grinned. “It was so hot last night, I was pretty much naked in my bedroom.”

“TMI, Mabel. But I was too.”

“Heh. Right, well, I’ll head out then. Don’t miss me too much, Dipstick.”

“I’ll try.”

Mabel slung on the backpack and started off into the woods. The air felt much too dense to be real. She was starting to feel pretty great, though. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the air in Gravity Falls. The oxygen here had a particular quality that made her think of days spent out in the front yard, driving down to the lake, racing through the woods. It made her feel very old and very young.

She let out a sigh as she turned deeper into the forest. It was nice to just _walk_ , with no purpose, no destination- just _go._ No running toward something, no running away. She passed by the turn off she would normally take to visit Bill and carried on. There was a woodpecker hidden in the trees, she could hear it drumming into the wood, and another bird was calling out to its friends. They all called back.

Mabel walked a ways longer, taking in every tree, breathing in the scent of the pine, mulch, the dust from the day. The air was hot and pressed against her, but felt cooler in the shade. A single breeze blew by. She felt in love with the earth.

She sat down at the base of a tree for her mini-picnic. There must have been a stream nearby. Maybe she could convince Dipper to do a camp out with her sometime soon.

After the most peaceful meal of her life, Mabel took out her sketchbook and drew for a while, then stood and stretched.

“Bye now,” she said to the woods, and went home. She showered off her sweat while Dipper watched the Used to be About History channel downstairs and messed with their AC.

Honestly, she was starting to feel pretty great. So Bill had sucked. Big deal, had she really expected anything different? He’d always been mean, she’d just forgotten that his meanness was actual life-hating meanness. But everything else was _great._ Gideon wasn’t stalking her and was being nice to her brother and not creeping her out. Pacifica was hanging out with her and making funny jokes and not being all weird. Wendy, Candy, and Grenda sent her the cutest texts. Plus, she’d seen Robbie and Tambry downtown the other day, and they were the best couple _ever._ They were actually giving America’s Favorite Power Couple, Waddles and Gompers, a run for their money. She hadn’t seen them since their wedding, a few years back, and now that they were a little older, Robbie said they were thinking about starting a family. It was nearly too sweet for her to handle, and Mabel could handle so many sweet things. And Dipper and Ford were hanging out with her. They were all being a family, but also going off and doing their own stuff. It felt like actual adulthood, almost. But younger, more summer-y.

It felt like _summer._

She opened her window that night, and fell asleep without any trouble.

Things were _good._ They were so, so good.

* * *

 

_This can only mean one thing: Everything is about to fall apart._

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I'm gonna leave the meaning and narrator of the closing line to your own imagination!  
> 2\. Mabel's mental state in this can be eerily similar to my own at times, which is, welp.  
> 3\. A character return officially confirmed for chapter eighteen, sorry for any false hopes I may have brought up, but as I think I've said, I had to add the Dipper chapter into the outline and then I split another chapter, so, eighteen it is! It's shaping up to be a really fun chapter though, I slipped in a few terrible fandom jokes and have been plotting out another.  
> 4\. Soo, if no other chapters get split, that leaves like, 5 more. And I might delete one of the chapters because I have no outline for it! So SOON!  
> 5\. If you have the time, check out this fic's playlist! The last chapter has the link!


	17. Back in Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be honest: it's really hard for me to hold off on posting chapters after I finish them. I just get so excited to put them out there and share them with you guys! That said, I still haven't gotten around to all the amazing comments you guys have left on some of the last few updates, even though each one brought me so many smiles. A few even brought me wicked writer feels. Here's another thing: I found out today that I didn't get into the summer program I applied to. I'm not that upset (it was like, a month of summer program life, super long) but... it was also at CalArts. And, you know.
> 
> But I'm really excited to be bringing you guys another update!!!! Here you go! I hope you enjoy!

_Thousands of ghosts in the daylight_

_Walking through my hometown square_

_Thousands of faces you touched once_

_Thousands you lost in the fright_

_Knock, knock on the door of the house that he knew_

_The air grows cold around me and you, it's cold_

_You know that he's there_

_Thousands of ghosts in the darkness_

_Lost in a strange neighborhood_

_The lights from the warm houses haunt them_

_They forgot what they lost_

_But they know it was good_

_-        “I Died So I Could Haunt You” Stars_

* * *

 

A few days later, Mabel stepped outside after two cups of coffee and blacked out. Several seconds later, she opened her eyes and was a few steps closer to the woods. _Oh,_ she thought. _You’ve_ got _to be kidding me._

“Fuck you!” she shouted. A window in the house flew open.

“Mabel?” Dipper called.

“What?” Mabel turned. Dipper was hanging out of a window on the second floor.

“You’re screaming at the forest.”

“I stubbed my toe,” she yelled back.

“Okay, cool.”

He closed the window. Mabel groaned and pointed at the forest.

“Fuck you, I say again! _Fuck_ you!”

Mabel spun on her heel and stomped back into the house. She made a beeline for her room and spread her books out on the floor. If she was going to go deal with Bill, she was going to do it with a little refresher on what she’d been reading. Over the past few days, she’d gotten pretty good at the whole meditation deal. Without _any_ help from the dream demon, thank you very much. She’d actually made dream fire a few days ago.  Not actual physical fire, so not _that_ useful, but very cool looking. And she had matches and stuff, anyway. But _whatever._

“Dipper!” Mabel yelled. “I think I might go out! Dipper?”

She didn’t get any response. Time to march off into the forest alone without telling anyone to talk to a demon, then.

Mabel started back down the stairs, her head buzzing a little. It was too _early_ for this. The sky was still white.

She stormed into the woods, simmering and seething. At least it wasn’t too hot yet. Nearly muggy, but crisp and cool when she stepped into the trees. Thank God.

Just for show, she went into the Mindscape on her own. Mabel liked to show off, and to show Bill that she _didn’t fucking need him._ She spotted his glow through the trees and barreled around the corner.

Bill didn’t say anything when he came into view. He just _looked_ at her. Mabel dug her nails into her fists.

 _Fucking fucker_!

“Still mad, huh?” Bill said.

“Yes,” Mabel told him.

“Aw, don’t be so sour. Come on. Sit down, I wanna talk to you.”

“I’m very mad.”

“Come on!”

Mabel rolled her eyes and crouched down on the forest floor. “Alright, what do you want to talk about?”

“How are you? You doing okay?”

“Oh, it’s all peaches and cream for me.”

“Yay! Yum!”

“Shut the _front door,_ Bill.”

“Not yum?”

“U _nnngh._ ” Mabel sat down, crossing her ankles. “Yeah, Bill, I’m fine. Everything’s kinda good right now. But what the hell do you want?”

“Eh.” He looked like he would shrug if not for his statue predicament. Mabel felt a little better. He was a hunk of _rock._

“Just so you know,” Mabel told him, standing back up. “I’ve actually decided that you’re an asshole that I’m never gonna talk to you again, ever. I actually _have_ friends that aren’t evil triangle rock statue demons. _Plus_ I have my family.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You can go then.”

Mabel blinked. “That was all you wanted?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to say hi.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah, check in and stuff.”

“You _did_? You’re kidding.”

“Eh.”

Mabel blinked again. Her heart suddenly felt very tight.

“You’re totally lying to me.”

“Eh.”

“You _aren’t_ totally lying to me? But why?”

“Eh.”

“But you’re an asshole!”

“Yeah.”

Mabel frowned. “Okay, I’ve got a question for you. When I first got here, after awhile, you started to get… let’s call it dream-sucky. You were like, mysterious lighting, and _come and find me, Mabel Pines,_ and kept pulling me into the Mindscape and stuff, and now you’re trying to do that _again._ Why? Why did you want me to come over? Did you _really_ think you could get me to make a deal?”

“Eh,” Bill said.

A breeze ruffled all the leaves around them. Strange, Mabel thought, for the mindscape.

Bill blinked. “Guess I just haven’t talked to anyone in awhile.”

The wind seemed so loud.

“I made fire the other day,” Mabel said.

“Oh, _impressive._ A human made fire!”

“The blue kind.”

Bill stared at her.

“Shit.”

Mabel wiggled her fingers, wondering if she could do it again. “It didn’t feel hot at all. It was kind of cold. Like wind.”

“That’s the one.”

“What about you, Bill? How are you doing?”

“I’m alright. A rock, you know, but that’s getting old.”

“Are you lonely?” Mabel asked.

“I don’t feel that much.”

“No,” she agreed. “No you don’t.” Mabel sat back down. “I found a book about you. Ford had it. He locked up a bunch of his old books in a box in the basement, but I asked him to pull it out.”

“Did you?”

“I read most of them. I actually have been reading a lot lately. I haven’t read since high school, except required stuff. But I used to read all the time. I really liked the vampire novels.”

“The gross kind?”

Mabel grinned. “Yeah. And really awful fantasy young adult romances, and really _really_ awful adult romances, but the older I got, the less books I picked up, you know? But I got a bunch out a little while ago. I even got some from Gideon.”

“How is the little punk?”

“He’s good. I told him not to trust you.”

“Drat you, Mabel Pines.”

Mabel almost laughed. “Drat _you_ , Bill Cipher!”

“You’re not mad anymore!”

Mabel made herself scowl as hard as she could. “Don’t tell me that. It’ll make me get mad again.”

“Seriously? That’s dumb.”

“I’m almost mad again now!”

“Fine, _fine,_ I’ll stop.”

“Also,” Mabel said. “I’m getting _so_ good at the aura thing. I just have to think, brain, I’d like to notice some auras now! And my brain says, _why, that’s a great idea Mabel, here you go, free of charge!_ It’s so nifty, so thanks.”

“Anything for a friend!”

Mabel hated herself for half a second, because that made her _so stupid happy,_ to hear him say that. He was joking, he was a world-wrecker, and one of the worst creatures she’d ever encountered, but he’d just used the f-word. The _good_ f-word. The fun one. The buddy-buddy one.

“You know what would really make me stop being mad,” Mabel said cautiously, testing the waters a little, “Is if you apologized to me.”

Bill made… a face. It wasn’t _really_ a face- he was just an eyeball and a bowtie- but it was an obvious expression. Something caught up between disgust and suspicion.

“But I don’t do that,” he reminded her. “It’s kind of my thing.”

“Yeah, I know, being a dick is your thing. But it _is_ the friendly thing to do. It would make me _not_ mad. When you feel bad about someone getting upset or mad, you apologize.”

“But I d-” Bill paused, and did not continue.

He _didn’t_ feel bad. Okay.

Mabel sighed. “Alright, you’re right. Feelings and courtesy and friends aren’t your thing.” She started to stand. “I’ll come by later, okay? Hey, I found this sick statue of you in Ford’s room, now I’m using it as a doorstop in _my_ room, but I might put it out on the porch. I could drag it out here, maybe.”

“Don’t leave yet,” Bill said.

“What?”

“Don’t get mad at me again for silly reasons. I don’t like it.”

“You think it’s a silly reason?”

“Yes. Don’t do things I don’t like.”

“Why? You’re a statue and I don’t like you.”

“Well, I don’t like _that_ either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, _really_ , so don’t do it or I’ll get mad.”

“So you can get mad but I can’t get mad? That sounds unhealthy.”

“Whatever!”

“Are you just repressing your feelings?” Mabel folded her arms. “That’s bad for you. But let me guess, you can’t, because you don’t have feelings. My mistake.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “Look, I just don’t want you to get mad at me again, okay? I don’t get a lot of company out here, and after a taste of it, I get bored easy. So swing by and don’t get mad at me, okay?”

Mabel nodded tersely. “Okay. Sure thing, Bill.”

“You’re my only pal.”

“Uh huh.” Mabel forced her smile to widen. “Well, I’ll swing by when I can. Maybe I’ll bring a board game or something, I can move your pieces for you.”

“Eh, do whatever you want.”

“I hear a yes!” It was true. Mabel _could_ detect a yes hidden under Bill’s annoyed front. He _was_ repressing himself. Sort of, maybe, a little bit. Maybe he had two feelings. Two and a half. “But I’ll head back for now, okay? See you soon.”

Mabel turned.

“After a while, crocodile.”

She stopped.

“See you later, alligator,” she called, and started back down the path.

 _I’m so stupid,_ she thought, her smile still broadening. _I’m so stupid, so stupid, so, so stupid, so-_

She stopped short and looked down. Really? Could it be?

 _“Slithers?”_ she asked, in disbelief.

The snake curled on the path looked up at her. It hissed wearily, like it was sleepy, and then turned back to the ground and slid away.

Mabel stared at the snake as he disappeared into the brush, then looked back down.

He’d shed.

Mabel snatched up the snakeskin and whooped. “Today is a _great_ day!” she told the sky, and started to sprint toward the house.

Dipper was at the door when she swung it open.

“Mabel-”

“Grunkle Ford!” she yelled. “Gimme a second. Grunkle _Ford!”_

Mabel ran past the vending machine and down the basement steps. It was nice and cold down here.

Ford opened the door to his room before she could get there.

“Mabel,” he said. “What’s this all-”

Mabel stuck out her hand to off him the snakeskin. “He shed! Shedded. Shed.”

“... What?” Ford looked down. “He… Who- he did! May I-” Ford snatched the snakeskin. “This is great, Mabel! This is perfect!”

“Thanks-”

“Don’t call me for lunch!”

He closed the door behind him. Mabel stared at it, then looked back down at her hands.

Well. That was done.

She turned and started back up the stairs. Dipper was waiting at the top, by the vending machine.

“Hey,” she said. He was cracking his fingers, one by one, and shifting his weight from side to side.

“Hey,” he said. “Mabel, we need to talk about something. Can you come sit down with me?”

“Um… yeah, sure, totes.”

Dipper nodded to himself and closed to the vending machine. “Right. Let’s go.”

Mabel followed him into the kitchen. Dipper pulled out a chair at the table and she took a seat. He’d set out two cups of waters. One was already half empty.

Dipper picked up the half empty one and took a long drink. He filled it back up at the sink.

“Alright,” he said, turning off the stream of water. “A short while back Gideon took Lisa in for a fix-up, right? Because of the paint scratch ups. And stuff.” He turned off the water and sat down.

Mabel nodded. “Right.”

“Okay. You know how she’s been getting scratched for awhile?”

“Uh huh.”

“So, when I came home that day from a walk I’d gone on, just a little trailblazing, making sure the gnomes were good, you know- when I came back Lisa’d gotten a lot worse. Like, claw marks level bad. Something had totally gone at her. All the black paint was peeling off, it was _gone,_ her entire back was shredded.”

“That’s not good.”

“But that’s not what freaked me out,” Dipper said.

He’d been freaked out.

Mabel felt a twist in her gut, almost like a punch. He’d been freaked out. And now that she was thinking about it, Gideon had totally noticed. _She hadn’t_.

“Oh.”

Dipper bit his lip, gnawed at it, then had another drink of water.

“They carved into the back window, too,” he said. “It was like, someone took a knife and just carved out some letters. The window wasn’t shattered, just thin little cracks that made up the letters, some glass splintering off around those. Some on the ground with the paint.”

Mabel felt her shoulders tensing. The hair on the back of her neck was well on the rise. “So… what did they carve?”

Dipper gave her a long look. There were too many emotions behind it to decipher. He was lost. He was sure. He was worried. Scared. He was so scared.

“My name,” he said.

“But that could be anyone,” Mabel said. “Like, maybe Robbie or Wendy is playing some messed up joke, or Gideon’s crazy, or-”

Dipper shook his head.

“Oh. Your _name?_ Oh. Oh.”

He meant his birth name. The name no one knew.

“But that leaves me,” Mabel said.

“Well, yeah. And Wendy, Ford, and Paz. But none of you-”

“Yeah.”

“Especially since Lisa’s such a nice car. Anyway, I _did_ think of Gideon. I thought someone might have maybe told him my name, or something, but it did seem really- not like him. Like, if Gideon wanted to wreck my car, he’d probably want me to think he’d wrecked my car, so I could shake my fist at the sky and yell, ‘Damn you, Gideon! You’ve beaten me again!’ but it wasn’t like him at all, it was super unlike him. I asked him about it, kinda, after he dropped you off, but I also realized there was no _way_ he could have done it without you knowing, Pacifica either. And Wendy was working. I called her to check. So I kind of freaked out. I didn’t want you to know right away, since- I mean, I’m still freaked out. I’ve had some bad things happen to me, you know, but never like, this level, about my gender or anything. But I don’t _think_ it was about my _gender,_ I think it was just a message, right?”

“Sure, sure.” Mabel nodded. She couldn’t quite follow where Dipper was going, but he was right: it was freaky. She felt freaked out. Her heart was racing a little. She reached for her full cup of water to have a sip.

“I think someone or thing, they were trying to say, I’m here, I’ve been here awhile, I know who you are, and I’m gonna wreck the things you care about. It’s really- I’m kind of on edge. I didn’t want to, like, get you on edge, but things have just been escalating, and I _have_ to tell you, because if it’s really him, we’re both in trouble.”

_Him._

Dipper locked eyes with Mabel. She set her cup down.

“I think it’s him,” he said. “I think he’s back. I think he came back to get us.”

“Him.”

“You _know_.” Dipper looked down, then back up, then looked around the room. “I’ve felt like there’s someone watching me lately. I can’t even explain it. My neck always feels kinda sore, you know, like I’m being really tense. You know?”

“Him? You think that-”

_He knew._

He knew about Bill.

_But Bill said he wasn’t scratching his car-_

_But Bill’s a liar-_

_But Bill was just almost alright-_

_But Dipper just told me this right after-_

_And if Bill knew…_

_Could Bill know?_

_But if he did-_

_But-_

_But-_

_But-_

“I really didn’t want to tell Ford,” Dipper said. “I think he noticed me getting worried, I was actually a little suspicious of demons before the name window thing, and I was worried he was catching on. That’s what I was looking into at Gideon, cause, you know. You know. Ungh. I’m sorry. But Ford’s been doing- he’s seemed a little better, lately? He was so paranoid for a while, and I’d hate for him to start screaming about brain stealers and hiding inside again. You know, he actually came outside a few days ago? You were out, and I was heading out for a walk, and he opened the door and yelled for you, then for me. And I said, I’m out back, Great Uncle Ford, and Mabel’s in town. He said he was just checking in. I felt kinda- proud, or something. That sounds stupid, I don’t know. Anyway. I just wanted to check in with you. Do you think we should tell For-”

“No!”

Mabel worried that she might have been too sudden. That Dipper might be looking at her strange. But he was nodding.

“Okay, so we agree. Right. Man, that’s a _huge_ load off. And- you’re handling that info pretty well, actually. But you _can_ talk to me, you know. Oh man, I have to stop saying that. But I know things were… _rocky_ for awhile, but I’m always here for you, Mabel. Just say the word. Tell me literally anything. You can wake me up at one in the morning to tell me your socks are missing.” Dipper laughed awkwardly. “Well, let’s both be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Dipper started to stand.

“Hey,” Mabel said. “I have a hypothetical question.”

“Shoot.”

“Right, so, let’s say- he _is_ back. Maybe- I mean, maybe he isn’t.”

Dipper nodded. “That’s true. He might not have come here after us. But, you know-”

“ _Way_ better safe than sorry.”

“Yup.”

“So, let’s assume he is still here. What then? What do we have to do to him?”

Dipper shrugged. “I guess either we split or we have to kill him. I’ve been studying a little bit, but we could split too.”

Mabel really didn’t want to split.

So now Dipper had to kill Bill?

“Do you think you could kill him?”

“Maybe, I think, in a fair fight. You borrowed some books from Ford about demons and stuff, right? Maybe I could borrow some of those.”

“Sure.”

“I’d really love to kick his ass,” Dipper said. Mabel could definitely pick up a hint of longing coming off of him. “Show that bastard who he messed with, that it was the wrong people to mess with. I mean, he fucked us _up._ I’d like to fuck him up back, _bad._ ”

Bill couldn’t fight. Bill was a rock. Bill couldn’t even _move_.

“Alright, just checking.” Mabel smiled. “Well, hang in there, stud.”

“Yeah, you too. Do you mind if I take your car into town to check up on Lisa? Actually, your car is super important. I’ll bike in. See you later, maybe don’t leave or do anything not smart without texting me or telling Ford you’re leaving?”

Mabel grinned at Dipper. “Me? Never.”

Dipper grinned back and headed for the door. “Later, sis.”

“Later, bro.”

The door shut behind him.

Mabel pulled up her knees.

Dipper was going to have to kill Bill. Dipper was going to try to kill Bill.

That, or split.

Mabel weighed the options. It felt like she’d been in Gravity Falls awhile but really, it was barely even two months, if even. But Gravity Falls was her childhood. It was her summer. It was her weird happy place. It was _always_ summer here, in her head, always hot, always sunny, always so perfect, except for the times it hadn’t been.

And the Mystery Shack. It was what Stan and Ford had built. It was where she’d first met Pacifica and heard her sing, where she met Candy and Grenda and found her people, where she’d found out about the little psychic in town and Gideon had later introduced himself, where she adopted Waddles, where Wendy had first lounged her way into her life and taught her about feeling good being important, where all of Wendy’s friends first started saying hi to her, where Ford came _back,_ where Stan activated the Portal and Ford came tumbling back in, the place she fought Bill for before, the place she’d first met _Soos,_ where Soos showed her the secret to vending machines, where she’d watched maybe one of the greatest episodes of Ducktective ever to air, it was where she shared a room with Dipper, where Dipper had kept her up all night, where she got work experience while Dipper yammered on about some stupid monster, where Dipper had fought bats and yelled at her to be careful who she was trusting, where he’d told her summer ended, where they’d decided to _fight._ She’d flown here, shot fireworks and hurled water balloons. It was where she decided to grow up.

It was the place the town ended. The place the woods began.

And she had the deed hidden inside a knitting magazine in her bedside table upstairs.

She’d fought so hard for that deed, for this building. She’d had to be carried out of press conferences and dragged down by Gideon. She’d been in a government car that she got rammed off the road, all so she could run back. She’d fought a unicorn to build it a barrier. She’d caused Weirdmaggeddon for it. She’d led Bill, in all his demonic _demon terror_ down a hallway with no ending, with just her brother and a grappling hook and maybe a magic flashlight. She’d held onto Stan until Dipper and Ford pulled her back. She’d _stayed_ because of the deed. She’d stayed here so long.

She’d left far too easily before. That was _not_ a mistake she was going to make again. The Mystery Shack was a part of her. It was the part of her heart that felt warm and gooey and quick. She could not, could _not_ let it go. It had been missing for so long.

Mabel could _not_ just split.

So Dipper had to kill Bill?

Bill was terrible. He’d tortured Ford. He’d possessed Dipper, gone into Stan’s head to commit robbery and who knows what else, and used tactics that were, frankly, just plain rude. He’d turned her town into a throne he could sit on, locked Gideon in a cage, stole Pacifica’s parents and took Durland away from Blubs, and all of Wendy’s family and friends, he took everything from everyone. He’d tricked her into Weirdmaggeddon.

But right now, he was just a little sticker on a rock in the forest. He’d wanted her to come and talk to him. She could see that much- _he’d_ taught her about auras. And what if he was starting to crack? Wasn’t it a tragedy for him to be struck down just when his emotions started to weasel their way out?

 _No,_ Mabel said. _Don’t think like that._

… but.

What happened if Dipper _couldn’t_ defeat Bill? What if Bill beat him? What if something did happen and then something happened to Dipper?

Mabel bit down on the sides of her tongue, and her teeth felt sharp.

What _did_ she know about Bill? She knew that little was known. His first priority was himself. For a deal to be completed, it had to be stated immediately before the handshake, and being spoken by both parties couldn’t harm any. It might, maybe, _just_ maybe, be possible to make a deal with the demon that he would hold himself to.

So maybe… it _was_ possible for her to give him a hand. Maybe Bill owed her. Maybe he owed her for tricking her into Weirdmaggeddon, maybe that counted. If not, helping him up certainly would. Maybe he’d owe her enough to leave her family alone. Maybe he could even take a break from the world, just for a while.

Maybe they _could_ make a deal. She’d just gotten him back, wasn’t now the worst time to let him go? Shouldn’t she hold onto things? Especially the things that came back?

Mabel frowned at her shoes.

Maybe.

Maybe.

_Maybe._

Maybe she was right.

 

* * *

 

_I was only a girl when I wore those clothes_

_I was unfaithful, I lived as I chose_

_I want only to haunt you_

_But you're never there_

 

_I died so I could have you_

_I died so I could haunt you_

_[x3]_

 

_I died so I could have you_

_I died so I could hold you_

_I died so I could haunt you_

_[repeats]_

_-        “I Died So I Could Haunt You” Stars_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The bitch is back! (it's Bill. Bill is the bitch.)  
> 2\. did u guys like my "some of these lines are totally about bill(dipper)... but some are (dipper) ambiguously about (dipper) other people in mabel's life (dipper)" and mabel calling bill out on being not gr8  
> 3\. I'm more or less officially done with the draft for the last 5 chapters (+ a possible epilogue!), then it's on to outlining and working on the sequel! Since I've got a lot of chapters left and I want to spread out their posting dates, I'll try to edit them really well! But I also might not do that (I'm sorry). And speaking of edits, I was always sure it was Sheriff Blubbs? But then I checked, and the thing I read said Blubs?  
> 4\. I updated the summary! Now it actually dangles some bait of what the plot might be, not just overdramatic wording.  
> 5\. I had a very specific line I wanted to use that tied into this title! Now I have a different line. I'm hoping to use that line in the sequel still (it's a good line)
> 
> Also, I really, really, like I said before, REALLY want to edit my next few chapters. I've gotten so many comments about the characterizations in this fic, and my take on the Pines family (and their friends) has always seemed to be consistently something y'all enjoy, and it has made me so happy. But so much happens in a few chapters, and I'm worried that without the proper context ("what, harlecat? MORE backstory you haven't revealed?! how much is there?!?!" the answer is a lot). For now, I'm just going to help that my hard work on and excitement for these finals chapters will be enough, and I will also promise: everything will be revealed in the aftermath. I've been thinking about how all my reveals in the sequel are gonna happen- so don't worry. They're gonna happen.
> 
> And a final note: You guys are some of the best readers out there.


	18. You're It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! This is basically a little break before everything goes off the rails. It also has a few fandom jokes. I wanted to squeeze in some more, but I wasn't sure how... This was also a break for me, where I could write whatever I want and not practice self-control, because this is the fun chapter, and the angst is just about to hit harder.
> 
> H E ' S C O M I N G B A C K !

Mabel grinned. “I hope you’re ready,” she called from the bathroom. “Because this is my greatest outfit, ever.”

“I’m ready!”

Mabel opened the bathroom door. “Ta da! I remade my birthday sweater, but with question marks!”

The sweater almost hung past her knees.

Dipper grinned. “Nice! Check what I found in the stock.”

He hoisted up a big box he was holding. He was just wearing his standard TV show tee, the moon-eye staring at her, with a vest. Dipper set the box down and opened it.

“Look at all the hats!” Mabel shouted.

“There’s so many!” Dipper yelled back.

“So many!”

“Too many!”

“Way too many!”

According to Dipper, he’d found the box of trucker and baseball hats while sorting through the back. He’d figured the baseball caps were perfect, and according to him, he’d also kind of wanted a bunch of the trucker pine tree hats. Dipper pulled out three of the old baseball caps and put them all on.

“We’re ready,” he said.

“So ready. Shall we?”

Mabel offered her arm. Dipper linked his with hers, and they started down the stairs. Dipper almost tripped her, he was going so fast.

“Okay, bad time for arm linking?”

“Yep.”

They walked down the stairs as independent people. Mabel ran into the kitchen to grab the cookies she’d made the night before, and they reconvened at the door.

“Now?”

“Naturally.”

“Grunkle Ford, we’re going out!” Mabel yelled. Dipper kicked open the door.

“Man!” he said. “I feel so great! I love this day! _Ungh_ , great.”

Mabel turned. Dipper had let go and started towards the door, waving a little unenthusiastically. She followed him to the door. Lisa was approaching at a fast pace. She slowed as she reached the driveway. Gideon parked and jumped out.

“Hey, y’all!”

Dipper’s disinterest faded the moment Gideon stepped out of his car, and he threw himself down the steps and onto the hood.

“Babe!” he screamed.

“Hey, Gideon,” Mabel said. Dipper kissed the top of his windshield, then started coughing.

“Oh my god,” he wheezed. “Oh my god, I tasted the paint. Oh my god-”

“Here’s the keys,” Gideon said, dropping them into Mabel’s hand. “Maybe give them to him when he’s done kissing it.”

“Her,” Mabel corrected, pocketing the keys. “Her name is Lisa. Li, for short.”

“Right, _Li._ Your brother’s crazy, pumpkin.”

“Mmhmm.”

Dipper hopped off the hood and gave the car a walk around before sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Yes!” he shouted. “ _Yes!_ You’re back! Li, I missed you!”

“He really likes her,” Mabel said.

“It’s the most expensive car in all of ever,” Gideon told her. “The actual model hasn’t even been released. It’s by a Japanese guy who moved to Germany. His next car will _probably_ fly. Kind of hard to find parts for.”

“Oh my god!” Dipper yelled. “Gideon! My car smells like baby powder! _Gideon! I smell hairspray! You ruined her!”_

Gideon reached into his pocket and handed Mabel four pine scented danglies.

“Cool, danglies!”

“They’re the ones that smell like pine trees. He left, like, twenty in there. I nearly passed out.”

Dipper opened up his glove box and started to hang up some of his danglies.

“Thanks for fixing her, Gideon!”

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to grab a bite,” Gideon said. “There’s this new drink at the coffee shop. It’s chocolate fudge brownie.”

“Really? Damn. I’d like to, but today’s actually a super important day. It’s our best friend’s birthday.”

“Do you think you could give me a ride, then?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not! We’re going into town anyway. Hey, Dipper-”

Dipper leapt up from the car and ran past them both into the house. Mabel turned to watch him disappear around the corner. After a second, she realized what he was doing.

“Ooh,” she said. “Get ready, lil ol’ you.”

“What?”

Dipper came racing back out, and whipped by them both. “Here you go, Gideon!” he called, barely even glanced at him. He jammed a trucker hat onto Gideon’s hair and skidded to a stop by Mabel’s car. “Shotgun!”

“What _is this?”_ Gideon shrieked, yanking the hat off. “Ahh! No, I’m not wearing this!”

Mabel took the pine tree hat and put it back on him. “Hey, you look like some other dimension you. Alternate timeline, you know? Gideon lives in the Mystery Shack and tries to keep the villainous Dipper from dating his buddy.”

“You?”

“Ew, that’d be gross. We’d have to reverse it, make it someone else.”

“Who? No, wait, I’m not talking about this. Here, hon, take this stupid hat back.” Gideon shoved it at her. Mabel put it on herself.

“Now I’m Dipper,” she joked. “Ooh, I know. He’s died, mysteriously. But I've taken on the pine tree mantel, and I'm carrying on his legacy! His gospel-"

Gideon was clearly suppressing a laugh. “Shut _up,_ Mabel, I’m not talking about this!”

“For, he’d have done anything for my safety, and my… health. No, that doesn’t sound quite right.”

Dipper stuck his head out of Mabel’s car. “Can we go already?”

“Wait, I’ve got it.” Mabel turned the hat to face backward. “Now I’m cool Dipper, yo!”

“Oh my _gosh._ ” Gideon giggled. “ _Stop._ ”

“No, no, there’s more! I haven’t even told you half of them-”

“Let’s just go already!” Gideon told her, but he was still sniggering.

“Okay, _fine.”_ Mabel started toward her car. “I’m driving, so you’ve gotta be in the back.”

“I’ll manage.”

Mabel dropped into the driver’s seat.

Dipper spun around in his seat. “Gideon, hey man, I’ve been holding onto this.”

He held out the magical amulet.

“Oh,” Gideon said. “Well… thanks… I’m actually, uh-”

“No,” Dipper said. “We don’t want it.”

“But the reverse,” Mabel said.

“Yeah, the- wait, what?”

She giggled. “Just take it, Gideon. Don’t use it to kill Dipper or anything.”

Gideon nodded, looking uncertain. “Alright, sure.” He accepted the amulet and stuffed it in his pocket. “Well, good to have my third luckiest bolo tie back. Can we go now?”

“Uh huh. Oh, Dip, here’re your keys and stuff.”

Mabel handed him the keys and danglies, then pulled out her own UFO keychain. She stuck it in the ignition and stroked her steering wheel.

“Come on, baby, start,” she cooed. It started to make a terrible racket.

The car turned on, and they all cheered.

“How old is this death-machine, anyway?” Gideon asked. “I looked it up, but I actually couldn’t tell what brand it is.”

“Oh, yeah.” Mabel flipped the car into reverse, turned, and drove around Lisa. “Stan ripped all the labels off of it. That’s why the license plate is super new. He was breaking every single traffic law, ever. Also, he couldn’t see.”

“This was Stanford’s car?! For how long?”

“Gosh,” Dipper said. “Wasn’t it _his_ family’s car before he got kicked out?”

“Wow,” Mabel lowered her brows, thinking. “It _must_ have been, right? I mean, he didn’t have any money. When _could_ he have bought a new car? So that’s like- it’s a three-generation car?”

“Four now.”

“Heritage!”

“Waitwait _wait_ ,” Gideon said. “This was _Stanford’s_ car? How is it _alive?_ ”

“Stanley,” Mabel and Dipper said.

“Stanford?”

“Stanley.”

Gideon shook his head. “No, Stanford.”

Dipper rolled his eyes. “He’s _our_ relative, Gideon.”

“The deed said Stanford!”

“His name is Stanley,” Dipper said. “Mabel, back me up on this.”

“I can confirm. Name is Stanley.”

“Y’all are pulling my leg.”

“Stanford is the one in our basement,” Mabel told him, looking up into the rearview mirror. “He _built_ the Shack, but then he… moved. For thirty years. Very suddenly.”

“So Stan took care of it,” Dipper added. “Until he came back, unexpectedly.”

“And we were like, _Stanford_ , there are two of you?! And he was like, actually, I’m Stan _ley_ , this is my secret long-lost twin! And we were like, who? And he was like-”

“The author of the journals, my brother!” they both shouted.

“And then Dipper screamed,” Mabel said.

“The _journals?”_ Gideon screamed.

“Yeah, like that.”

“Waitwait _waitwaitwait,_ ” Gideon said. “Hold the phone, Mabel! The _journals!”_

“That’s not fair!” Dipper rolled down his window. “I didn’t scream!”

“You squealed.”

“Not until _Ford_ told us about the journals.”

“Okay, fine. It’s for narrative’s sake, Dipper.”

“Then he attacked Stan,” Dipper said. “Gideon? I think Gideon fainted.”

“No!” Gideon screeched. “Explain this!”

“I can’t tell it right,” Dipper shrugged. “You have to hear it from Stan and Ford.”

“Well, where are they?”

“Ford was in the basement this morning,” Mabel said.

“But Stan’s in Hawaii.”

“True.”

“And since when has the Shack had a basement?!” Gideon strained against his seatbelt. “I’ve poured over every inch of that building! There wasn’t a _basement!_ ”

“It’s a secret basement, duh,” Mabel told him. “That’s why the _secret_ great uncle lives there.”

“Oh man, you know what just clicked for me? I bet that’s where the naked candy stealing monster opossum guy lived. You remember him?”

“ _Yes!”_ Mabel yelled. “Oh man!”

“Man!”

“Wait, wait, b-but-” Gideon stammered. “I have s _o_ many questions.”

Dipper leaned back in his seat. “Oh, I feel you.”

“Why did he write the journals? How did Stanford _know_ all that stuff? He was just your uncle!”

“Great uncle!”

“I don’t care how great he was!”

“No, he was our _parents'_ uncle, great uncle.”

“I guess it’s just the natural Pines family skips-a-generation-and-only-manifests-in-twins curiosity,” Mabel said. Dipper laughed and pulled his hat’s brim down over his eyes.

“I don’t believe this,” Gideon said. “The _author of the journals_ -”

Mabel reached over to turn on the radio. “Dipper, can you find the Spanish station?”

Dipper pushed up his brim. “Spanish? Here?”

“We probably get something.”

Dipper sighed and started to flick through the stations.

“The radio in this car is not good,” Gideon said.

“Gideon, shush. This is my family relic. Her radio doesn’t have to be good.”

“Her?”

“Found it!” Dipper shouted, and turned the radio up.

Mabel sang along loudly in terrible, faltering Spanish. She hadn’t taken a class since her junior year of high school, but remembered some of the basics. After a few songs, she turned into town and pulled up at the Dusk 2 Dawn.

“Aand, here’s our stop!”

Dipper unbuckled his seatbelt. “Can you walk from here, Gideon?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Gideon looked over at Mabel. “Thanks for the ride, hon.”

“Don’t mention it. Dipper, go get yo girl.”

“Ungh, Mabel, that sounds weird.”

Dipper headed into the Dusk 2 Dawn. Gideon hopped out of the car and jogged backward, waving to Mabel. Mabel waved back.

Wendy followed Dipper out of the Dusk 2 Dawn, carrying a large box. She carefully laid it down next to her seat in the back. “Here’s the race car cake Soos’s Abuelita ordered. Ma and Pa made just finished it.”

“Sweet!”

Dipper jumped into the car. “Let’s go!”

Mabel hit the gas and they sped out of the downtown area. A moment later, they’d pulled up at Soos’s house.

“Alright,” Dipper ask. “If everything in order?”

“Yes,” Mabel answered. “I called his grandma twice to make sure the plan was okay. Plus I checked in with Melody. She was actually planning a surprise late lunch and birthday date for him, so this works out perfect. I even sent Stan a letter two weeks ago with special instructions about how to contact Soos and when we’ll sing Happy Birthday. But I don’t think he got it, he might have just switched beach resorts.”

“Man, we are good to go!” Wendy punched her fist in the air. “Let’s go and get that birthday boy!” Dipper whooped, and they all got out of the car. Mabel picked up her box and Wendy hoisted up the cake. “Let’s do this, people!”

The three of them hurried up the steps to Soos’s grandmother’s house. Mabel rang the doorbell and giggled.

“I’m so excited,” Dipper whispered.

_“Soos, could you get it?”_

_“Sure thing, Abuelita!”_

A moment later, the door was opening. Soos came into view, and his eyes widened.

“... Dudes?”

“Soos!” Mabel shouted, and shoved her box on top of Wendy’s to dive onto him.

“Girl Dude! Mabel! Dipper! Wendy! _Dudes!”_

Soos grabbed them all in a bear hug, and Mabel’s feet left the floor.

Dipper laughed. “Good to see you, Soos!”

Soos set them down. “Why do you guys have boxes? _Guys_! You remembered my birthday?”

“How could we forget?” Mabel opened up her box. “I made you dinosaur cookies!”

“Aww, Mabes!” Soos took one of the cookies. “And they have all the fun flavors of the Mesozoic era! You guys are the best.”

Mabel handed the box to Wendy again and shrugged off her huge sweater. “And I made you this special mystery birthday sweater!”

“You’re kidding! I’ll put it on right now!” Soos yanked it over his head. “It’s super comfy!”

“Not to mention!” Dipper took off his trucker hat and pulled out the Mystery Shack baseball cap he’d stashed underneath it. He handed it to Soos, who put it on.

“Aw, you guys, you really thought of everything!”

“Speaking of everything,” Wendy said. “Let’s get this ice cream racecar cake in the freezer while you guys get Soos in the car!”

“A racecar ice cream cake? This is my dopest birthday yet!” Soos sat down in the backseat and clicked in his seat belt. “Is this Stan’s car?”

“He gave it to me a while back,” Mabel said, sitting in the driver’s seat.

“We tried to fly him out, but no dice. Sorry man.” Dipper put on his own seatbelt. Wendy emerged from the house and sat down.

“Laser tag! Laser tag!” she began to chant. Dipper joined in.

“We’re going laser tagging?!”

Mabel grinned at him in the rearview mirror. “You know it!” She took off, and moments later, they were pulling up at the old laser tag place.

“Are you guys ready for spray painted mattresses and bad action music?” Dipper asked.

Soos lowered his hat’s brim gravely. “I think we were all born ready.”

Wendy nodded solemnly.

The four of them jumped out of the car. Dipper put some coins in the meter and they all headed inside.

“So, Dipper, dawg, I’ve gotta ask,” Soos said. “When’s your next season starting? Cause like, Melody and I watch your show all the time.”

Dipper grinned. “The fall schedule isn’t totally revised yet, but it’s looking like late September.”

“That’s way too long! And with such a cliffhanger ending!”

Dipper paid for their passes and they all suited up. The television started to play the introduction.

“Let’s get laser tagging already!” Wendy shouted. They all cheered and rushed through the door. “Boys versus girls! Mabel and me will kick your asses!”

Dipper readjusted his hat. “The birthday boy and me would like to politely disagree.”

Wendy grabbed Mabel’s hand. “To our secret base!”

They hurried away while the countdown to the game’s beginning started.

Mabel and Wendy totally kicked their asses, but Dipper and Soos definitely returned the favor.

“Alright, the big birthday meal looks like it’s gonna be ready soon,” Dipper said a few hours later, squinting at his watch. “It’s so hard to see in here-”

Wendy shot him three times. “Victory for Team Ladies Rule!”

Mabel cheered.

“ _Wendy!_ I guess you guys win the last round-”

Soos shot Wendy back. “Boys rule, girls drool!”

“Soos!”

“Let’s take this party to the car!” Mabel made a dash for the coat room. The others followed her and they all started to take off their battle armor. Dipper collected their guns to hang up and they piled back into the car.

Mabel turned up the local radio station so they could all sing along to the summer’s greatest hits loudly, and incredibly off key.

Mabel pulled up at Soos’s house. The sun was getting higher in the sky, and the heat was only going to increase.

“I hope you’re ready for pizza and ice cream cake,” she said.

“Am I! Come on, we don’t wanna keep the ice cream cake waiting!”

Soos led the charge inside, where Abuelita had laid out a variety of pizzas, donuts, and the race car cake had center stage. She was setting out the last paper plate when they entered.

Soos immediately teared up. “Abuelita, guys, this is beautiful.”

Abuelita smiled. “Soos, always so sensitive. Smile on your birthday!”

Soos grinned.

The five of them all sat down.

“This is so great, you guys have no idea.” Soos started to cut the cake. “And it’s cookie dough ice cream! That’s my favorite! This is the best birthday ever!”

“Stan might call you later,” Mabel told him. Soos’s grin grew. “Maybe. I’m not sure. Also, I have another surprise! But this one’s for you _and_ Wendy!”

Wendy looked up from her pizza. “Why do I get a surprise?”

“It’s not gonna be as surprising for you.” Soos served Mabel a slice of the cake, and she snatched up her own slice of pizza. “I’ll tell you when we’re all served and seated!”

Soos hurried to plate everyone up.

“Alright,” Mabel said. “I’ve actually been in town since early June, Dipper and me have been helping Grunkle Ford out with some stuff. We decided to surprise you on your birthday because we knew it would be the _best. Surprise. Ever._ ”

Dipper nodded sadly. “That’s why, unfortunately, we could not come and chill beforehand.”

Mabel also nodded. “Yep. But the reason I’m here is more complex than just helping Ford. See, I originally planned to stop in for a few days and grab lunch with some friends- in which case, I would _definitely_ have come and said hi- but I had a disagreement with Ford and one thing led to another and long story short, we made a trade. Dipper and I would help him out with his spooky research, which was a totally weird deal because he almost never asks for help, I think he was just lonely and missed us, and in return, he would give me the deed to the Shack.”

“Mabel! You’ve got the deed to the Shack?”

Mabel grinned, and nodded again. “Do I! And that’s not the only thing! At the speed we’re moving, everything is set for us to be open in time for a big and of summer party, and then have a super moldable schedule until next summer! There are just a few problems.”

“Problem number one,” Dipper said.

“We don’t have a handyman. I mean, I could ask Gideon to be our handyman, cause we’re cool now and he’s pretty a pretty good mechanic, but he’s _already_ a handyman at the AutoMart pretty much full-time, plus he’s already agreed to be our brochure partner and take some shifts and help out with tours and stuff, but I don’t want to push it, because honestly, I can only give him so many jobs. So, we _need_ a handyman.”

“Problem number two.”

“I don’t _live_ in Gravity Falls, technically. I’m supposed to finish college next year, so I’ll have to at _least_ go away for a year before I can even think about moving here, which I’m actually lowkey thinking about. But I can’t think about that yet, because college. So I need someone who can look after the Shack that _does_ live in Gravity Falls!”

“Number three.”

“We haven’t hired _anyone_ for any manager-type positions, or even interviewed! But we aren’t an actual business yet, so where oh where could we possibly find someone well-acquainted with the Shack? Where? _Where_?” Mabel grinned at Wendy and Soos. “Where?”

“Dude,” Wendy said.

“Mabel,” Soos said. “If you’re offering me a high-positioned job as handyman-slash-temporary-manager of the Mystery Shack doing what I love in the place I love with a flexible schedule, the answer is a resounding _dude, yes!”_ Soos leapt up from his seat to grab her and Dipper in another bear hug. “I can’t believe this! This really is the best day of my life!”

“Wait,” Wendy pointed to herself. “Me too?”

Mabel nodded, turning in her seat to hug Soos back. “You can be co-slash-assistant-manager. Really flexible hours until next summer for both of you, but we’ll be back then.”

“Dude!” Wendy shouted and nearly dove across the table to join in the hug. “I can’t believe this! The Shack is like, my second home!”

“Dawgs!” Soos yelled.

“I’m happy you guys are happy,” Dipper said, his face pressed into Soos’s stomach.

Soos pulled back. “I can’t believe this! Now I’ve gotta have another slice of ice cream cake to celebrate! Then some more to celebrate the celebration!”

They all tucked in. Abuelita turned on the television to give them infomercial and cartoon background noise. Mabel filled Soos and Wendy on all the Shack restorations. Soos was working part time at the mall, but eager to take on another, smaller job- a tourist trap in the off season would be perfect for both of them. Mabel also gave Soos the whole dish on Gideon, and his tattoos. Soos told them that he and Melody had taken some time off for awhile- he didn't elaborate much, but hinted that it involved the reappearance Giffany- but apparently, they'd gotten back together, had an epic showdown, and were now fiancées.

Finally, the cake had all been devoured, and Melody was due to arrive for their birthday date soon.

Soos grabbed the three of them in the day’s final hug.

“Aw,” he said. “Geez, I hate to say goodbye to you dudes. You really do always have my back.”

Mabel almost started crying, but she stopped herself.

“Soos, I've missed you so much,” she told him, and held him tightly.

It was true. Mabel just didn't miss things until she got them back. Sometimes she didn't hurt until the hole had been filled.

Now that she had almost everything back, she was not going to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> L O O K W H O ' S B A C K !
> 
> 1\. For now, I'm going to say this is dubiously canon (fanon, I guess?) because I'm not sure if I really want Gideon to know about all that Tale of Two Stans and journal stuff yet.  
> 2\. Gideon seemed a little off to me? I'm so sorry if he seemed off to you guys. I tried. Also, I'm not really sure how he ended up in this chapter. He wasn't supposed to be here? I just started writing it and he... popped up? And stayed? For a long time? I'm sorry. He's my trash kid, I guess.  
> 3\. Back up to 23 chapters! (I added an epilogue because I'm weak)  
> 4\. I'm going to try to spread out the next chapters so they update weekly, which means I get more edit time, and I can stretch them out for like, a MONTH. That gives me so much time to plot out the sequel. And leaves soooo much time for emotions. HaHA. I'll get around to all your comments soon! Sorry I'm putting it off.  
> 5\. Some of the more obvious jokes in here are the references to popular AUs and some fanfiction (did you catch the two titles? They were only glaringly obvious). I wanted to sneak in a reunion falls and a relativity falls reference but... I couldn't figure out how. But I've got at least one fanon joke up my sleeve, so I'll make sure to put another terrible fun and bad jokes filled chapter in the sequel. I'm also going to try for more Soos in the sequel! Keep the bear hugs coming!  
> Hope you enjoyed this update <3 playlist is up and I'm still toying with the idea of posting some of my designs for this story. Have a good one!


	19. Split

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I want to reply to all your comments, BUT I'M TOO EMOTIONAL ABOUT THEM Y'ALL ARE TOO SWEET. Seriously, when I get comments on my fics, I grin at my email in the goofiest way possible and sometimes scream, and if I ever feel down, that's a surefire way to pick myself back up. And the comments on this fic. You guys. You. AHH.
> 
> I really wanted this chapter to be perfect for you guys because there's such a major plot point in it. And I really, really want it to work. So if it doesn't? Please let me know. Think of this chapter as an edited draft, and if you think, oh, hey, I've got a tip that might help? Please please tell me! I was a little hesitant about posting this because I was sure I could edit it more, but I'm honestly pretty happy with it, so I really hope you enjoy it! I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to what you've expected of this fic. I'll try to edit it more if I get the chance, either before the next update or after the whole fic is up!
> 
> You are all great and I hope these last few chapters don't let you down.

_I always knew you'd be the one to show me a grove to lie in and cry into the treetops_

_-        ”The Woods” Stars_

* * *

 

Mabel was not going to let go. Not of her Shack, her friends, Ford, her brother, her family, and certainly not of Gravity Falls.

But that sort of meant… She had to. She had to at least loosen her grip. And maybe things would slip a bit further away.

Dipper knew Bill was alive. Mabel did not want Bill to die when he couldn't even defend himself. She didn’t want her friend and her brother to _fight_ and kill each other. She did not want to have to split. She didn't want her and Dipper to have to leave. Which, Mabel couldn't help but think, was the reason Weirdmaggeddon had happened.

So she had to be really, really careful. She did _not_ want to fuck up that badly again.

Just in case things went sour, She left a note for Dipper.

_My dearest Dipstick_

_If you found this note then there's a pretty strong chance you've looked through my drawer because I’ve mysteriously disappeared. If that's true, read on. If not, please stop so I don't embarrass myself._

_The truth is, yes. Bill is back. And I knew. In hindsight, that probably lines up easily. I found him when I went hiking in the woods that one time, and now his physical form is about ten feet away from our house, in the back. You can't miss it._

_I decided to make a deal with Bill because I didn't want the Mystery Twins to split up again, and I didn't want to leave Gravity Falls. I guess if you find this I failed at that, but at least you’re probably okay!  I should have told you, so sorry about that. But there's lots of things I still should have told you so find me so I can tell you them!_

_Maybe Bill possessed me and I'm terrorizing little kids, or maybe something else. If you can, find me/us, do it, even if it’s just so we can check in._

_Love from your sister_

Mabel signed it with a heart and some sparkles and a shooting star, then left it in her dresser. Dipper would not check in there unless she _mysteriously_ vanished.

She packed her knapsack with granola bars and apple juice. Then Mabel opened one of her desk drawers, and from the mess of knick knacks, she pulled out the little hair clip Dipper had given her. A shooting star. She'd actually been aiming for favorite hoop earrings, but this was probably better. _Like fate or something._

Dipper said it was his lucky charm. Well, she could use luck. Not to mention some strength, courage, and her brother and everyone else’s love.

She texted Dipper the pictures from Soos’s birthday, then forwarded them to Soos, Wendy, and her parents. She left a note for him and Ford with the supper she'd made on the table. _With love and smiles._ She sent an awful meme to Gideon and Pacifica and thanked them for a great soap opera showdown earlier in the week. She sent a better meme to Candy and Grenda and agreed that yes, they all seriously needed to hang when they were back in town.

If this was goodbye, it had been good. If not, even better.

She just wished Stan had picked up his phone.

She selected the birthday photos to email him as she headed to the door. “Dipper, Ford, I'm heading out for a night walk! Supper’s on the table!”

Dipper shouted something from another room. Mabel sent the pictures to Stan and tried to call him one last time.

The phone rang.

A moment later, Stan picked up.

_“Hello? Is this thing on?”_

Mabel’s chest overflowed.

“Grunkle Stan?”

_“... Mabel? Sweetie, is that you?!”_

Mabel stopped short. “Yes, it's me. I've been calling you for days!”

_“That was you?! Aw, pumpkin. I saw the area code and thought it was the inland cops!”_

Mabel smiled. “It's okay. Can you talk for a second?”

_“I’m actually at a poker tournament.”_

“Do they know you're a professional gambler?”

Stan raised his voice. _“No, pumpkin, these people have_ no idea that I've never played poker before!” Mabel giggled. _“And how's my angel holding up?”_

“I'm good,” Mabel told him. “I think I might go away for awhile, except I am away. It depends on how things go, I guess.”

_“And what about my other angel?”_

“Dipper’s good too, I think. Also Ford.”

_“Forget Ford! I was talking about the Stanley-mobile. How is she?”_

Mabel started to laugh. “She's fine, Grunkle Stan. She had some problems awhile back, and was almost a murder machine, but I took her to a pretty good mechanic now she's fine. Listen, Stan, I'll let you get back to gambling but I wanted to let you know that everyone says hi, especially me, and that I have a big surprise for you next time we see each other! I hope it's soon. Also, that I love you a bunch, and I really miss you.”

Mabel heard him sniff. _“Thanks, kid. Glad to hear it. Are you sure you're doing okay?”_

Mabel looked the at the woods and thought about the note in her bedroom.

“Never better.”

_“Mabel?”_

“I'm mostly okay. I'll be great if my day works out. Night, I guess. ”

_“I love you too, you knucklehead. Now, go have a great night while your Grunkle Stan kicks some butt.”_

There was a click as he hung up. Mabel smiled.

Things had worked out.

She sighed and started toward the woods. She followed the familiar trail she'd carved out. Down the path and a turnoff, right into the trees. During her prolonged stay at Gravity Falls, this path had become effortless for Mabel. She rarely went into the forest without stopping by at Bill's statue, even if it was just to pat his hat or say hello.

And his clearing was impossible to forget. She turned into it, and the settling sun shone in to meet her, orange and red and pink and dark.

Mabel sat down across from Bill.

"We really need to talk."

She watched the soft breeze slow, the lighting waver, the trees stand still.

"Hey, kid," Bill blinked, or maybe winked, and looked pleased. "What's up?"

Mabel sighed. "A lot. Let's skip the formalities, okay?"

Bill seemed a little taken aback. "Sure, okay. Do you need help with something? Want to work on your meditation?"

She shook her head. "No, everything's fine with that. It's something else."

There was silence.

"Like, something you're gonna tell me, or..."

Mabel looked him in the eye, hard. "This might not be my best decision, but I want to make a deal with you."

Bill's eye widened. "A deal?" Mabel nodded. He narrowed his eye. "A deal. Huh."

"It's probably my stupidest decision ever, maybe second or third, but it's definitely in the top five. I just I think I should. Would you like to hear the deal?"

"Yes, do tell."

"The deal is this: I will do you a _huge_ favor I do _not_ owe you, and free you. By shaking your hand, right? You’ll double owe me, so in return, I ask that you leave me, my family, my friends, and this town alone, and you will do the same for the world for... a little while, at least. And by alone, I mean you stop playing any part in lives. No reality warping or statue-izing. You're _just_ allowed to contact me if you want or need something."

"So all I have to do is take some time, a few generations maybe, off, and never speak to the Pines, your pals, and most of all you ever again?"

Mabel nodded.

Bill blinked. She couldn't read a single thing that he was feeling. Why was he so hard to figure out?

He giggled. It made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"DONE! That's the greatest deal of my life!" he shouted. "I hate your family! You let me go and you stop talking to me? Done and done and DONE!"

"Glad you're happy."

"This is the greatest day of my life!"

Mabel stood up to clear away the nature that had amassed by Bill's statue. She pushed aside some mulch and bush. He looked ready to shake her hand. Like he had always been ready. Like he was reaching for her.

Mabel thought she should feel sick or something, but she didn't. Actually, now that she was thinking about it, she kind of did. But not really, just in a nervous way.

So many things could go wrong here. He possessed her and she never saw her family again. Weirdmaggeddon round two. She lost everything.

Mabel knelt down.

"Oh, hey," she said. "I skipped the formalities. How are you?"

"I'm dandy!" Bill yelled. He sounded more angry than gleeful. Why was he so _difficult_?

"I bought granola bars and apple juice, if you want any."

"Let's get this party started and over and done with! Let's do it! Let's do it!"

Mabel held out her hand. "Bill," she said. "Please, please, I say this as someone who’s trying _really_ hard to believe in you right now, don't let me down. Don't ruin everything."

Bill stared at her. There was something in her eye she wasn't sure she could ever comprehend. She wanted to trust him, completely, and she also was sure she was about to be betrayed and get torn into shreds.

"Sure thing," Bill said, and his gaze went up to her hair. He made a sound, almost a snigger, but friendlier, less smug. "Shooting star," he added. "Good to have you back."

Mabel's fingers brushed the statue's cool stone. She felt something thrumming beneath it, but maybe that was her own heartbeat.

"You will leave everyone I said alone and not ruin the world, and I will free you."

"I will leave everyone you said alone and not ruin the world, in your perspective I assume, and you will free me."

Mabel took his hand.

And the blue fire began.

Bill began to laugh.

It was all ending. It was all going to end.

The fire spread up to her elbow, and reached all the way to Bill's body.

* * *

 

_I walk deeper into shade now_

_That dappled light again_

_I see you standing at the gate_

_My one and only friend_

_-        “The Five Ghosts” Stars_

* * *

 

"Pull!" he screamed, a clear command, and she gave his arm a yank. Mabel heard a distinct popping sound and the fire subsided.

Bill's side peeled off the face of the statue. "Ah, man, that feels great! I didn't even know I was sore! Whoopsie." His entire top slouched down. Mabel recoiled, dropping his hand in shock. Bill slowly peeled off the statue and fell facedown.

"Oomf."

"Wait," Mabel frowned. "This is anticlimactic."

Bill floated up into the air. "Hey, thanks kid. And listen, I'm always ready to make a deal, so if you change your mind give me a summon. I'm sure you know all the right symbols. You know what? Have something to remember me by."

Bill snapped his fingers. A bird dropped out of the sky, gave a weak chirp, then crumped onto the ground.

"Is it… dead?”

“Yeah!”

Mabel scrambled back. “Ahh! Bill!"

"Sorry, sorry, bad gift." The bird, suddenly fine, took back off into the sky. Bill circled around Mabel. "Take something better. Have a..." He took off his hat and rummaged around. "A silly straw! Take two! Two silly straws! Do you love them? Man, am I great or what!"

Mabel took the two straws he was holding out. "Will these kill me if I use them?"

"No! That would just be _too_ silly."

"Then... Yes, I do love them. Thank you, Bill."

"Gross, don't get all emotional on me, kid."

Mabel looked up from the straw. "You know… I kind of thought you might possess me."

Bill made a disgusted sound.

Mabel laughed. "Wow, that's a relief. And seriously, thanks for the silly straws. They look really cool."

"Eh, it's whatever."

"Okay, you don't know this about me, but I actually love silly straws! They crack me up! They're so silly!"

"It's no big deal, kid," Bill said. "Just some stupid silly straws."

"Thank you."

Bill turned red. Angry again. "Shut up."

Mabel took the cue and took off her knapsack to put them away.

"I wish I had something to give you too," she said as she put the knapsack on.

"Mabel, you've given me the greatest gift of all: the chance to ruin everything, but later. In _my_ time, not yours. I'll even double check to make sure you're dead and won't be sad."

"Um, okay." Mabel looked around. "I guess I'll head back."

"Alrighty, see you."

"No. You... won't, actually."

Bill stopped spinning around her. "Oh. Right, right."

"I guess this is goodbye, then."

"Right."

"Well. Bye."

Mabel turned, but the world around her was still gray. "I've got to go. I'll go now. Bill-"

"Mm?"

"Dipper knows you're around. Stick to our deal, but maybe keep an eye out."

Bill appeared in front of her. He was staring at her.

"Bill?"

"So we're sharing surprise secrets now? Here are some random tidbits. The sky is a lie. The snake people are angry. A massive energy entered this town a while back. The moon landing was fake. And your family really hates it when people touch their hair."

Bill reached forward and fluffed up Mabel's hair.

"I don't hate it."

It almost looked like he was smiling.

"I know. Take care, kid."

Mabel almost thought she was smiling. "See you later, alligator."

"After a while, crocodile."

The world's colors came back and Bill faded from sight. Mabel looked back at the statue. It was empty. It made her think of the Shack's old closed forever sign.

Mabel realized her cheeks were wet, and reached up to rub her eyes. It was getting really dark out.

"Goodbye," she whispered, and started home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... was I successful? was the deal believable? did the characters seem reasonable in their actions? i hope. these questions, and more, to be answered as the plot progresses.
> 
> I started work on the sequel's playlist, outline... and actual writing. they'll be more of mabel's backstory (and boyfriends), more explanation of how things with her and Dip got rough for awhile, how the ending of Weirdmaggeddon went down (in detail), and MORE STANS WITH LUCK 
> 
> I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH AND ALSO YOU ROCK ( get it beause bill was a rock and the su update) I HOPE TO GIVE YOU MORE OF MY TRASH SOON!


	20. Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I had the craziest schedule ever this week. But tonight I'm off to a big dance with my bestie, so that's fun!!! I'm pretty pleased with this chapter because it made me SAD. It's the next one I have to edit the shit out of, because that's where the shit goes doooown. Anyway, I'm a little sleepy, but I edited this as best I could!  
> Also, new SU stuff guys! I'm honestly not as into Steven as I am into Gravity Falls, but it's still one of the sweetest shows on the air.   
> Enjoy! I love all of you so much!

_Keep watching your back_

_Killers always have killers on their track_

_Keep watching the sky_

_-        “He Lied About Death” Stars_

Mabel woke up from another restless night. It had been several days since she’d set Bill free, and the nightmares that had been subsiding were starting to come back. Once again, she woke curled up in the fetal position, sore all over.

She groaned and sat up, touching her forehead. Her sleep had been worse than ever. She squeezed her eyes shut and did a quick version of the meditation she’d made up. It made her insomnia a bit more bearable, since she could quickly refresh herself when her energy was wearing thin.

After she was done, she felt a lot better. Her headache was fading, and her stomach felt much better.

Mabel picked up her phone. She had several alerts from her group chat with Gideon and Pacifica. Most of them were just Pacifica changing the name to “sluts”, Gideon changing it to “cool kids” and Pacifica changing it back again. Pacifica had also informed them that, thanks to her current boyfriend, she now had access to some nearby ranch and they all had to come horseback riding with her. Mabel hadn’t gone riding in years, but would probably kill for the chance to do it.

Mabel fired off a few quick texts asking when was best for them and changed the name of the group chat to “cool sluts” before she headed downstairs.

“Hey, Dipping sauce,” she called as she turned into the kitchen. Dipper was eating ramen in front of the television.

“Hey, Mabel!”

Mabel started to get out all the ingredients for a balanced breakfast of Lucky Fruit Cereal and chocolate milk. Possibly with some _real_ fruit, maybe.

Dipper followed her into the kitchen. “Hey, Mabel,” he said. “I think we need to talk more about the… situation.”

“Situation?”

“Him being back. I mean, you clearly slept as great as I did last night, and I don’t think we could handle another round of sleepless nights like last time.”

“Like last time?” Mabel lowered her brows. Last time they’d fought Bill, she’d slept fine. She’d essentially been comatose. Had Dipper not slept fine? Well, probably not while he was on the run. But he’d seemed okay after that. Had she missed something?

Dipper nodded wearily. “I don’t want you to have to go through that again, Mabel. So I’ve been reading up as much on demons as I could and, well- I just haven’t found anything on how to defeat him. _Yet._ ”

Mabel narrowed her eyes. Nope. She’d done all the work already. She was _not_ leaving. But what to tell Dipper? She decided to go for a straightforward approach. “We’ve beat him before. We can do it again. Besides, my dreams _have_ been... getting better. I think Bill’s gone, or he’s at least gonna leave us alone.”

“... Bill?”

Mabel turned to look at Dipper. He seemed confused. The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up.

“That’s- that’s what you were worried about, right? You thought Bill was back?”

Dipper began to shake his head slowly. “No, I- you thought I was talking about Bill?”

“... Who else is there?”

“Mabel, I- yes, Bill’s definitely gone. We killed him, remember?”

“But, I thought you said he was back-”

“No, no, I wasn’t talking about Bill, I was-”

“But then who were you-”

“Why did you think I was-”

“I mean,” Mabel felt her chest getting icy, and her heart began to pound. “We’re- we’re in Gravity Falls- this is where- Bill was-”

Dipper shook his head again. “Yeah, but- I mean, I didn’t-”

“Then who were you-”

_She already knew._

“Mabel, I- I don’t know how to- I was talking about-”

She could hear her blood rushing in her ears.

“I was talking about _Tony._ ”

Everything stopped.

Mabel blinked.

“... Tony…?”

“Oh my gosh, Mabel, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize- I should have-”

“You were talking about Tony? _Tony’s_ back?”

“Yes, I- I should have been- I’m so so sorry-”

Mabel sat down at the kitchen table and stared at her chocolate milk cereal. _I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this._

_Tony Tony Tony Tony-_

“It’s okay,” Mabel said. “I guess we just kind of- weren’t super clear with each other.”

“I’m so sorry-”

“No, no, it’s okay, I just… I’m going to go watch some cartoons, actually.”

“... Okay. Hey, if you want me to hang out-”

Mabel dumped her cereal down the sink and headed up the stairs. She fished her laptop out of her bag. It felt like ages since she’d last used it.

Instead of going to her favorite cartoon site, she got out her drawing tablet and got to work. Ten minutes later, she felt totally incompetent and went to watch cartoons instead.

She couldn’t focus on the cartoons. She just couldn’t focus.

Mabel started down the stairs. She could hear Dipper in the kitchen. Mabel turned and headed into the gift shop, through the vending machine, and into the basement. Stanford was in his room, pouring over a book with a magnifying glass.

“Hey, Grunke Ford,” she said. “Mind if I join you?”

“Mabel? Of course.”

Mabel nodded and looked around. She didn’t really see a place to sit down- all the chairs had become obscured by books.

“I wanted to thank you for the books you lent me.”

Ford nodded. “Certainly. Thank _you_ for the snakeskin!”

“Yeah, sure. I also… I had some questions for you.”

“Well… I’m a bit busy at the moment, but I’ll do my best.”

Mabel smiled. At least he hadn’t told her it could wait.

“I wanted to talk to you about Bill,” she said. “Um… how did you find out he was… bad?”

Ford paused, then set his magnifying glass down.

“I think it’s clear this is a talk I’ll need my full attention for,” he said.

“Really?”

“Let me mark my place.” He moved his magnifying glass to a more precise angle, then turned to face Mabel. “Here, let’s sit down.” Ford glanced around, then sat down on the floor. Mabel joined him. “What do you know already?”

“Not a lot.” Mabel had only heard the story secondhand from Dipper, and honestly, he hadn’t gone too in depth.

Ford sighed. “Alright. Some time after I started my research in Gravity Falls, I met Bill. He convinced  me he was a muse, and had chosen _me_ as his brilliant mind of the century, or… something like that. Bill led me to believe I could complete, or at least accelerate my research by building an interdimensional portal, to understand how anomalies in Gravity Falls appeared. I was building the portal with another good friend of mine.”

“Old m- Mr. McGucket?”

“Yes, Fiddleford. We’d been to college together. One day, we decided to test the portal. Fiddleford got caught up in it, and- unfortunately, he was pulled through. When I managed to pull him out he was clearly beside himself, spouting nonsense, and told me that the machine was dangerous. He left my workshop and never came back. At first I thought I didn’t need his help, then I realized that he’d seen something awful, and that was what Bill wanted to bring into the world. Into _our_ world. But instead of doing the smart thing and immediately dismantling the portal, I confronted Bill first. The second I even suggested that he’d lied to me, things fell apart. It was clear then that I’d been a fool to trust him. Over the next few weeks things were… very rough.”

Mabel bit her lip. Ford was clearly not happy with this topic of conversation. She didn’t need to check his aura to see that- it was obvious from his avoidance of her gaze, the look in his eyes, the way they were darting around, how often he was fixing his sleeves.

“Did it feel awful?”

“The worst. I’m not sure you’d understand.”

Mabel’s mouth went dry. Her head started to feel all weird, like it was wavering, and her heart felt jittery, and her throat was swelling up-

“Let’s talk about something else.”

Ford frowned. “But _you_ asked-”

“I talked to Grunkle Stan yesterday,” Mabel said. “I want to invite him here for my end of summer party.”

“You’re having a party?”

“Yes. I’m going to have a Mystery-Shack-is-Back end of summer party. Also, it’ll be Dipper and me’s birthday party, maybe, depending how close to the end of summer it is.”

“You’re going to have a party in my house?”

“Technically,” Mabel reminded him. “It’s _my_ house, now. You’re going to be invited too. I want our family to all do karaoke.”

“You want me to sing? With you and Dipper?”

“Yes! And with Stan. We have a family karaoke band! You _have_ to join it!”

Ford sighed and took off his glasses. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mabel-”

“You can’t say no, Grunkle Ford! You live here! You’re a part of the family! You’re a part of Love Patrol Alpha!”

“Of Love Patrol-” Ford put his glasses back on and sighed again. “I’m touched, Mabel, really, but _singing_ with _Stan_ is… that’s _not_ something I think I’d enjoy.”

“Why not? He’s your brother.”

“Mabel-”

“Grunkle Ford, please. Listen to me for a sec.” Mabel reached forward to take his hand. “It’s not just about the band. Forget the singing. Stan’s my other Grunkle. He’s your brother, _and_ he’s _our_ family. I want both of you guys to be happy, okay? So I think you need to talk to him. If it helps, I can convince Grunkle Stan to apologize to you, but he’ll only do it if _you_ apologize to him.”

“For what?”

“If you try hard, I bet you can think of five things. But most importantly, Stan wants you to thank him. That’s what he’s always wanted. For you to thank him for saving you.”

“And for almost destroying the world? Or should I say, for _actually_ temporarily destroying the world? Weirdmaggeddon would _not_ have happened if he just hadn’t-”

“He wanted you to come back.”

“That doesn’t matter-”

“Besides, Weirdmageddon wasn’t _just_ his fault. I mean, if you really think about it-”

“I can’t expect you to understand-”

Mabel dropped Ford’s hand.

“This is a very complicated-”

“Stop saying that!” Mabel pulled her hand back. “You’re always telling me you can’t expect me to understand things! How would you know? I might surprise you! I can _hardly_ expect _you_ to understand how I feel, but I don’t use that as a reason not to explain things!”

“Is _that_ what I do?” Ford shook his head. “Mabel, you’re so young. I _can_ hardly expect you to-”

 _Don’t cry,_ Mabel told herself. _You can’t cry._ “I understand a _lot_ of things. I might even understand some things that you don’t. But you’ll never know if you decide I’m too young or silly or inexperienced to understand before you even try me!”

Ford did not say anything for a moment, then he stood. “I don’t want to have this argument again.”

“Great uncle Ford!” Mabel shot up. “ We’re family! I just want you to _talk_ to me! I want you to know who I am! I just want us to be a _family_!”

“Mabel, I’m busy.” He turned around to face his desk and went back to his book. “I don’t have time to talk about this right now.”

“Great uncle Ford!”

“Mabel, please.”

Mabel’s nose started to run. She felt tears pricking at her eyes, and couldn’t hold them back.

“Great uncle Ford, you were- I looked up to you so much. You were one of my heroes when I was a kid. I thought we were- I thought we were so close. I’d started to think we were fine again, but now, I- sometimes I feel like you don’t want to talk to me.”

“I’m busy, Mabel. I don’t always have time to talk.”

Mabel shook her head. “If you wanted to talk, you’d find the time. I- fine. I’m- I understand. You can live in your basement forever and I’ll tell you when I make dinner or whatever so you don’t starve. If you want, I’ll even rig up a dumbwaiter so you never have to talk to me about _anything._ Would that make you happy?”

Ford made an exasperated sound and started to turn back around. “Mabel-”

“Goodbye, Great Uncle Ford!”

Mabel spun on her heel and slammed the door. She didn’t want to run up the stairs. She didn’t want to talk to Dipper, and she didn’t want any chance of Ford following after her. Like _that_ would happen.

So Mabel spun on her heel and ran further down. She sped down the staircase and shoved her way past the door at the bottom.

In front of her, on the other side of glass, was the ruined remains of the portal. Mabel moved toward the window and put her hand to it. The portal seemed to be lit, almost eerily, even though it looked incomplete and crashed. Mabel felt like they had something in common, she just wasn’t sure what.

The door was not quite open, but it was not well locked. Mabel forced her way in and stood pressed against the wall, looking up at the portal. Ford had worked so hard on it. Stan had worked so hard on it.

Mabel started towards it, cheeks wet. In a trance, she reached out and touched it. It was cold. It made her think of the statue of Bill in the woods. She had known it had been real once, maybe alive, maybe just powerful, but now it wasn’t. It had been strong and had energy. Now it was dead. It was a corpse. This was the corpse of the Pines family.

Mabel kicked the portal. It didn’t do anything.

Maybe a corpse wasn’t the right word. The portal was a ghost. The statue was a ghost. Mabel wondered if she was a ghost too.

A sob escaped her.

Mabel collapsed onto the ground by the portal and wept. Thick tears, hotter than everything around her.

She couldn’t do this. Bill was alive. Tony was coming back. Ford probably hated her. She hugged her knees to her chest and sobbed. She wished she wasn’t in her pajamas, and that she had a sweater to hide in.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, then vibrated again. Mabel wiped her nose and pulled it out.

_Giddy Gleeful: Does my horse have wings???_

_Pazzy: heck no_

_Giddy Gleeful: I do not want to come_

_Pazzy: yay!_

_Giddy Gleeful: I have changed my mind and will most definitely be attending_

_Pazzy: fuk u_

_Giddy Gleeful: That’s not a word._

_Pazzy: fuk u u dik_

_Giddy Gleeful: THE LETTER C EXISTS!_

_Pazzy: i c what u did there_

_Giddy Gleeful: STOP IT_

_Pazzy: nerd_

Mabel couldn’t do this right now. She turned off her phone.

At least her sobs had subsided, but she felt sort of wired from all the crying. Energetic, and ready to sob some more. Mabel stood up and glanced around the dim room, then returned to the other side of the window. She had to get away from the portal. It was making her feel strange and sad.

Mabel started to open some of the drawers, wondering if she could find anything of any interest. There were four UFO keychains, and an assortment of pens in one. There was some old folder labelled _THE CIPHER FILE._ Mabel pulled it out, but it was just history stuff. Still, she left it out. In the next drawer were some better finds. A polaroid camera, some paper clips, and another folder, stuffed with paper and labelled _PRIVATE PROPERTY OF STAN PINES. DO NOT TOUCH. THIS MEANS YOU, PAL._ The handwriting was immediately recognizable as Stan’s- not Ford’s. She just had no idea why he had a file down here, or what it meant. Mabel _had_ to look.

She pulled it out and opened it. There was was an old, fading Polaroid picture of a portal that looked complete, but still seemed dead, followed by a more recent one of the portal. It wasn’t in action, but it had clearly been repaired. Both were labelled _Day 0._ Mabel set them aside and looked at the next piece of paper. It was a set of blueprints, folded haphazardly. The paper was clearly older than her, and she was careful as she unfolded it. It was the design for the Portal. One set of handwriting was clearly Ford’s, from decades ago, but with it was the scrawl that she recognized as Stan’s. He’d circled areas in red. Mabel folded the sheet back up. After it was a list of phone numbers next to names, some in Ford’s writing, some in Stan’s. He’d labelled them as _“locals”_ and _“college buddies?”_ , probably in an attempt to sort out Ford’s acquaintances.

Mabel flipped over the sheet and her breath stopping. She recognized the next page instantly. Dipper had shown it to her thousands of times when she was twelve, gushing over how cool this town was, how mysterious his old book was.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I began researching the strange and wond’rous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon…?”

It was the first page of the journal. No, the third journal. And it wasn’t _front_ it, it was- a copy. It was a photocopy!

Mabel flipped the page over. After it was the section on the floating eyeballs, then the giant vampire bats, then the gnomes, complete with the scrawled in _“leaf blowers”_ , and then the cursed doors. Mabel wasn’t about to read through every page in the folder, but a quick look through confirmed her suspicion- Grunkle Stan had copied every single page in the third journal, or at least almost all of them. Ghosts were everywhere.

Mabel gathered up all the papers and put them back in the folder. She took it, the Cipher file, and the Polaroid camera, and hurried up the stairs, making sure to close the door behind her. She rushed by Ford’s office, through the gift shop, and up to the attic. She put them all in her desk, and collapsed into her bed.

She was not going to go to sleep, she knew that much. She didn’t want to sleep. Not with Tony-

 _Don’t think about Tony_ , she told herself.

But it was impossible.

Her breath began to quicken. Mabel pulled her pillow up over her head.

_No no no no no no no_

She could hear birds outside.

_Don’t say it’s all_

_don’t say it’s all been lost_

_My throat gets caught_

_The loose ends will make knots_

_You’re all I’ve got_

 

_I just want your past_

_I just want you now_

_Tomorrow I won’t know_

_Until we’re underground_

_Is that too much to ask_

 

_A heart suspends then bends it into three_

_A broken piece of what we used to be_

 

_-        “The Loose Ends Will Make Knots” Stars_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sad to write.  
> 1\. Who is Tony, you ask? How important is this fellow you've mentioned all of maybe once? (twice, actually). Well, here's a short explanation. My original plan was that Bill would be the only villain in this story. Then I somehow made Tony. Now there's a whole heap of other trouble for Mabel and Dipper to deal with.  
> 2\. Poor Ford. He has so many problems he still hasn't started working through.  
> 3\. Poor Mabel. I'm so sorry, sweetie.  
> 4\. I didn't really plan for the portal of the journal to show up in this chapter. They just sort of... did. And I really liked them.   
> 5\. We're almost through part one! The sequel's shaping up nicely. I've also got some plans for a few one shots... Maybe even a longer fic I'll write after this series? Who knows? ;)   
> I love y'all so much! Thank you for your support! I hope the last three updates don't disappoint!


	21. Undone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two chapters left and two weeks of school. This summer I'll have noooo theater company work and the sequel's already 11 chapters deep so get pumped!
> 
> These last few chapters were really weird for me to write but honestly, I'm extremely pleased with the result. That said, I hope they aren't a let-down to any of you, because my plot is bizarre and angsty and unnecessary, except it is kind of needed for the sequel to work, so, welp. 
> 
> I'm very pleased to present another pit of angst, chapter 21!!!

_What is that you're looking at, tell me what you see_

_That spectre in the corner looks an awful lot like me_

_-        “A Song is a Weapon” Stars_

* * *

 

Mabel’s hands were shaking as she stirred her cookie cough, almost violently. She hadn’t slept at all the last few days, and was running on fumes and meditation.

“Hey, Mabel?”

Mabel nearly dropped her spoon. She hadn’t heard Dipper enter. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been there.

“Yeah, broseph?”

“Mabel, are you okay?”

Mabel didn’t turn around. She set her spoon down. Had she put in the sugar?

“Mabel.”

She picked her spoon back up, and stuck it in her mouth. She couldn’t tell. Mabel slammed the spoon down. “I have to start all over!” she shouted. “Again!” Mabel pulled out the trash can and began scraping dough out of the bowl. “I can’t do anything right! I-”

Dipper grabbed her wrist. Mabel did not meet his eyes and pulled away.

“Mabel-”

Mabel shook her head, putting the bowl on the counter. “I just didn’t sleep last night, that’s all. I was working on stuff.”

“What about the night before that?”

“I’m _fine._ Here.” Mabel grabbed Dipper’s phone and unlocked it. She typed a list up for him. “We need to go shopping. We’re really low on flour and stuff, so if you go into town, can you grab them for me? Thanks.”

“When’s the last time you left the house?”

“If you don’t want to do it, I’ll ask Gideon or Pacifica to drop them off.”

“When’s the last time you saw them?”

Mabel shrugged. “I dunno, maybe a week ago?”

“Mabel-”

“I’m trying to cook! Do you have a pencil?”

Dipper pointed to the kitchen counter. There was a pencil next to the recipe she was using.

“Thanks.” Mabel measured out some flour, and crossed it off the list. “Okay. This time I’m gonna get it right.”

“Maybe you should have Gideon and Paz come over, hang out with you and stuff. You normally see them every few days, they’re probably worried.”

“Dipper, everything’s fine. I can manage my own life.” Mabel went to start measuring out the salt, and the shaker’s lid fell off. Half its contents spilled into the sink. Mabel winced.

“Okay,” Dipper said. “I’ll go buy some stuff, but you have to promise me you’ll take a nap.”

“Fine.”

Dipper looked at her for a moment, then nodded. He headed for the door. Mabel carefully measured out the rest of the ingredients, crossing them off when she was done, and put her cookies in the oven. She set a timer and went to go sit on the couch. Mabel turned on the television.

A moment later, she jumped up with a scream. She didn’t know where she was, what was going on, what if-

Mabel stopped. She _had_ fallen asleep. Her timer was going off.

She rushed into the kitchen and pulled out the cookies, but the tray was burning hot. She dropped it on the ground and stared at her hands. They were turning red.

Mabel switched on the sink and winced as she ran cold water over them. She couldn’t believe this. She turned to look at the cookies. At least most of them were still on the tray. She dried her hands, hating the feel of the cloth against her skin, and sat down to gather up the cookies. She used the cloth to pick the tray up and put them on top of the stove, and threw away the few that had fallen on the floor.

“Great Uncle Ford?” she called out. Her throat felt stiff and swollen, and she could hear it in her voice. “Grunkle Ford? I made snickerdoodles. Dipper, are you home?”

She heard a sound outside. Mabel’s heart stopped.

She started to make herself some coffee, then changed her mind and made black tea. She’d already had coffee that morning. She just needed caffeine.

Mabel headed into the living room to turn on the television, and when she went back inside, the tea was cold. Mabel turned the kettle on again and tried to meditate in the kitchen. No, she couldn’t focus. But she needed to refresh herself. She wasn’t going to sleep.

Dipper had been out for awhile.

Mabel started to pace. Her mind was jumping to all the worst conclusions. She told herself this, but what if, _what if,_ Tony really had been waiting for him downtown, what if Dipper was trying to call her- Mabel turned the ringer on her phone up- because he was in the middle of a high speed chase, what if she didn’t hear her phone go off with the warning that Tony was coming, or what if…?

Mabel started toward the door. What if he was already here? What if he was waiting outside?

The kettle went off, and Mabel nearly jumped out of her skin. She backed away from the door, unwilling to turn her back to it, and made it to the kitchen to make her tea. Mabel sat down on the living room couch and drank her tea. She made herself close her eyes. She kept drinking. She would not black out.

There was a knock on the door. Mabel dropped her cup.

Thank _gosh_ it was nearly empty. Mabel scooped it up before too much could spill and sat it down.

She headed to the door and looked through the peephole. Dipper was back. She opened the door.

“When did you lock the door?”

“A little while after you left. I made cookies.”

“Did you sleep?”

“I took a little nap.”

Dipper looked at the cup of tea on the floor. He dropped the bag of groceries.

“Did you see Tony?” Mabel demanded.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I didn’t see him.”

“Did he see you?”

“I don’t think so.”

Mabel collapsed onto the couch. “I think you’re right. He is back. I mean, who else would know your name and carve it into Lisa, and- I think maybe that’s why, the dreams- he’s back, he’s back- I think he’s going to come-”

Dipper put his hand on her shoulder. “Can you come with me for a second?” Mabel looked up, eyes wide. “Just to my room.”

She nodded and followed him to his bedroom.

“Why do you have your suitcase dow-now. _Out_. I can’t talk.” Mabel’s tongue felt weird, heavy, and her mind felt clogged.

Dipper sat down on the edge of his bed, next to his suitcase, and patted the bed next to him. Mabel did not sit down.

“I think we have to split,” he said. “I think you should go stay with Mom and Dad, or with some friends. Somewhere safe, far away. At least out of Oregon. And I’ll go down to get closer to the network.”

“I don’t want to leave Gravity Falls.”

Dipper sniffed and wiped his nose. “My allergies are acting up. I know what you mean. But look, there are people who can take care of the Shack.”

“I was going to have a party.”

“Mabel- he didn’t find us when we were apart.”

“I don’t want to run away from him.”

“Do you want to fight him?”

Mabel started to cry. Dipper jumped up to grab her. “Mabel-”

Mabel pushed him off. “ _Don’t,_ Dipper. I- it’s- you’re- I need to sit down.”

She collapsed onto the floor. Dipper sat down and tried to grab her hand, but Mabel pulled back, and he was holding her wrist.

“Mabel,” he said. “Tony _won’t_ find you. If we split up, he won’t find us. Go home. We can both go home and be safe.”

“But we won’t go home together.”

Dipper shook his head. “We won’t be in the same place. But I’ll be _here_ , Mabel. Not physically, but I’ll still be here for you. Texting. Phonecalls. Videochat. I’m never far away. I can buy you plane tickets, first go to New York, then home, so he won’t know where you are. Except don’t go to New York, I’m going there. Maybe go on vacation? Go to London. Go to Italy. I can get you the trip. I’ll pay for it.”

Mabel wiped her eyes. “Why are you going to New York?”

Dipper smiled weakly, and reached up to fix his hair. “It’s all kind of sudden, but I’m gonna consult with some doctors there about top surgery.”

“Really? That’s amazing, Dip!” Mabel jumped over to grab him tightly. It didn’t feel like a hug. It was a hold, but not the good kind. Dipper held her back.

“Yeah. It kind of came out of nowhere, but I think it’s the right time. I looked into some pretty good doctors over there, but I might check out some other places. I’d invite you to come, but… Mabel, look at me.”

Mabel pulled away and wiped her eyes again. “Yeah?”

“We can’t let this stop us,” he said. “We have to keep going. We have to move forward.”

Mabel nodded. “That’s really great, Dipper. You have no idea how happy I am for you. But also, I hope you understand, I think I’m going to go upstairs and take a nap. You pack your stuff. That’s super amazing.”

“Mabel-”

Mabel stood up. Dipper held onto her wrist, and she pulled her hand back.

“Bye.” She hurried to her bedroom and shut the door behind her, and fell to the ground. Mabel pulled up her knees and hugged them to her chest.

She felt like a ghost the next few days. She did not want to talk to Dipper, so she did her best to avoid leaving her room. She poured through the books that were still up here, rereading them until she fell asleep, always starting up a little while later to check the time and make sure everything was fine.

 _I can’t do this,_ Mabel thought.

But she did do it. She kept doing it.

She wished her head would just be quiet. She wished it was loud enough to drown out everything in her head. She couldn’t focus long enough to meditate anymore. She just had to

It just had to stop.

She just had to get out.

Mabel packed a backpack with some sunglasses, the folders in her desk, some of the books, her sketchbook, and shut down her phone before putting it in her pocket. She opened her door as quietly as she could. Dipper had left some notes on the floor for her. She stepped over them, picked them up to shove them in her bag, and crept down the stairs. She heard voices coming from the kitchen- Dipper and Ford. Mabel headed for the door and got into her car. She started it up, and imagined Dipper hearing it, Dipper running after her, but she did not turn around as she hit the gas.

She wasn’t sure where she was heading, but didn’t need to know. She just couldn’t do this anymore. She just needed a way out. This was her way out. She parked near the downtown and started a jog towards the houses. She needed someone that she knew, a friend, someone that wouldn’t call Dipper. Her feet carried her, without any thought, to the Gleeful residence. She’d had many a cup of coffee here, and had even gone over for a few dinners. Bud had hosted a pretty nice fourth of July barbecue for her and Pacifica. Dipper had never been invited to a function.

Mabel rang the doorbell. She glanced around. It felt almost like someone was watching her, but she hoped that was just her own paranoia.

Gideon opened the door a moment later, and looked her up and down in shock.

“... Mabel?!”

Mabel lifted a hand and managed a tired smile. “Hey.”

Gideon threw his arms around her. “Mabel! Marshmallow! I’ve been worried sick about you!”

“Sorry. Can I come in?”

“Goodness, yes. Let me get you a glass of water. Are you okay?” Mabel stepped inside, nodding. “Go sit down, I’ll be right there.” Gideon headed into the kitchen. Mabel followed him. “I guess we could sit down here.”

He filled a cup of water and gave it to her. Mabel downed the entire thing, and he quickly filled her another.

“Hon, are you alright? I haven’t heard from you in a week. Where have you been?”

Mabel shook her head and finished the water. “It’s- it’s complicated. I’ve just been a little- I’ve not been great lately.”

“Are you sick? Your throat sounds a little…”

“Yeah, you could say that. I’ve just been sort of. I don’t. I needed to get away from my family and out of my house. Gideon, I need you to promise you won’t tell Dipper I’m here, even if he asks. No matter what he says.”

Gideon looked confused, but he nodded. “Well… alright, sugarpot.”

“Promise?”

“Yes. I promise. But what’s this all about? You look- you don’t look so good.”

Mabel shrugged. “I told you, it’s complicated. Can I ask you another favor? It’s a little weird.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Can I take a nap in your room? And can you… hang out with me while I nap? I need you to make sure nothing happens to me. _No one_ can touch me, okay? I’m super serious about this. You can’t let _anything_ happen.”

“... Okay.”

“Thank you so much.” Mabel finished her cup of water. “Let’s go right now.” Mabel stood up and felt dizzy. “Which way again?”

Gideon frowned, looking concerned. “Come on, pumpkin, it’s this way.”

He took her hand. It felt weird, but Mabel understood. She was clearly off-balance. Gideon led her up the staircase and into her room.

“Lock the door,” Mabel told him. She peeled off the sweater she had on and crawled under his covers. She heard a distinct click as the door locked, and felt Gideon’s weight at the edge of the bed.

“Mabel,” Gideon said. Mabel pulled the blanket up over her head. Gideon grabbed it and pulled it down.

“Please don’t do that,” Mabel told him. Gideon dropped the blanket, and Mabel pushed herself up to sit.

Gideon took her hand. “Mabel-”

“You’re freaking me out.”

“You’re freaking me out too.”

Mabel pushed him away. “Gideon, I’m serious, _stop it!”_

Gideon jumped back.

“Sorry, marshmallow-”

Mabel pulled the blankets up around herself. “I _really_ need to sleep right now, Gideon. Can you not be creepy for five seconds?”

“But Mabel, I just want to know-”

“Stop it!”

Gideon backed away from her. “I’ll just be here reading then.”

Mabel nodded and curled up in the bed. It smelled like old lady perfume. She closed her eyes and blacked out.

* * *

 

There is someone standing right in front of her and the fire is instantly snuffed and she is _cold_ , she is turning into stone, and Mabel knows she has to look at the thing in front of her or else she’ll die, she’ll turn to stone, but she doesn’t want to more than she doesn’t want to die but then she feels a sudden pain somewhere close to her stomach, it’s sharp, it’s painful, it’s like a knife made of ice, and her nails dig in and she gasps and she can’t _help_ but open her eyes and

 

Her eyes are screwed shut but she can hear voices around her. They are familiar. They are saying familiar things.

Her heart is beating in a way that is far too quick and light to be normal or natural. It is like a bird flapping its wings, with cold, hard hands around its body. Mabel Pines can feel something alive inside of her. She can feel its fire, she can feel its kicks.

 

Mabel Pines is going to be thirteen in a week. She is sitting with her sweater pulled over her hands and almost over her head. Alone. In the forest.

Not alone. No, no, that’s wrong. No, she’s not supposed to, there’s something- something she’s sure she learnt, but now she can’t remember and

 

Mabel Pines is a freshman in college and her roommate is thinking of going to the same party as this boy she knows, it’s going to be a good party but she wasn’t technically invited, Mabel says she’ll go too but it isn’t long before she can’t find Cynthia and so she just has to go home but she _couldn’t find Cynthia_ she _tried to look for Cynthia_ and

 

Mabel Pines is fourteen and she’s trying to explain it to Dipper but Dipper just can’t understand she knows deep down he does but he also just can’t

 

Mabel Pines is fifteen. She is sitting with a jacket pulled over her legs. Alone. In the forest.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone

 

Mabel Pines is

Waking up and _WHERE_

 

  
She is about to fall asleep but her heart is beating too quickly and too lightly and

 

“You have to sleep,” Dipper says and Mabel squeezes her fingernails into her fists

 

“You have to sleep

You have to sleep

You have to”

 

Dipper is crying

 

Mabel Pines is waiting for him at his game place. There is a man coming out. He is handsome. She says hello.

Mabel Pines is

Standing

And her dress has just been

 

Mabel Pines is alone

 

                                              torn

 

Mabel Pines feels a hole and -

        She rolls over to look up at the ceiling. She is twelve years old.

She is sitting in the forest alone.

She is curled up and alone

She is

_THERE IS SOMEONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!_

_YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET AWAY SO EASY_

_YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET AWAY SO EASY_

_YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET AWAY_

_YOU ARE_

_MINE_

pulling her hand and she’s staggering after him

 

“Please, Mabel,” Dipper is crying. “Please, you have to sleep-”

_She doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want_

_“You have to”_

 

_AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE AM I WHERE WHERE WHERE     W       H E       R       E A   M      I_

 

  

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The aforementioned Cynthia is brand new!!!! She came to me literally yesterday and I edited her in. I may go back to Mabel's last awful nightmare chapter and write her in. If I remember, I'll mention her again. Just another shitty part of Mabel's backstory, because everything bad always happens to her. Srry babe.  
> 2\. Chapter 23 is actually an epilogue so guess what next chapter is either going to resolve everything before the sequel or send it all to everything's-gone-to-shit-cliffhanger hell place your bets as to which it's gonna be  
> 3\. In between this and the sequel, I'm working on some Stan Twins Angst™ and I might start a series of Reverse Falls one-shots because I have 10000 headcanons, so be on the lookout for those! I also had this crazy gr8 idea for a gf fanfic but it was too good and now I'm writing a ridiculously gay novel but I may still work on it as a gf fanfic.  
> 4\. Fun thing to do between now and sequel time (or after sequel time!): try to guess what the hay i even ship in this show. You could certainly check out my blog but i literally only reblog a few random fanarts for two ships that aren't even going to be in this fic. Just try and guess what my fave pairings are. Just TRY ( i actually keep the secret pretty well)  
> 5\. I love y'all so much so I want to apologize in advance for the terrible terrible upcoming events.


	22. Together // The Deal 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, guys, here's the second to last installment in this crazy-ass story. i'm amazed i've been able to get y'all to read this thing, honestly.  
> i don't want to distract from this chapter, i edited it as much as i could and i really hope that this isn't a bit letdown for all of you. more on what i'd have liked to have worked more on after this.  
> i'm also really glad to hear some of you like my notes ;)

_I've got a friend there, he'll take care of me_  
_I've got a friend there, he'll take care of me_  
_I've got a friend there, he'll take care of me_  
_I've got a friend there, he'll take care of me_

_-        “Liar” Stars_

 

* * *

 

Mabel sat up. The door to the room had opened. Who was it. Who was it. _WHO’S HERE-_

“Gotcha some breakfast!” Gideon walked in carrying a tray, and kicked his door shut. “Hope you slept well! You were out for _ages_ \- it’s morning now.”

Mabel rubbed her eyes. “Really? I slept all _night_?”

“Sure did! Here, I’ve got some waffles. Boop!” Gideon set the tray down at the edge of her bed and beamed. Mabel looked at the tray. They were blueberry waffles, with whipped cream, and a little bowl of chocolate chips next to a ramekin of syrup.

“Wow, nice presentation.” She scooted over and tucked in. “Thanks, Gideon. What’s this drink?”

“Just some cocoa!”

Mabel smiled, picking up her fork. “Wow, you really thought of everything.”

Gideon watched her eat for a moment, as if he expected her to say something, then began to speak. “I hope your night was alright? The weather changed a bit, the wind didn’t wake you up?” Mabel shook her head. “My dad says it might rain today.”

“Cool. So what time is it?”

“Twelve o’ clock.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Dipper swung by maybe thirty minutes ago, looking for you.”

“Did you tell him I was here?!”

“No, course not. He said you weren’t in your room and he was hoping you’d be here, since he’d already checked in with some of your other friends. He also said he wanted to say goodbye before he headed out. Is he leaving?”

Mabel sighed, and forked her waffle. “Yeah, he’s going down to Bend to catch a flight to New York.”

“Well, that’s certainly far away. Why’s he going there?”

Mabel looked away. “He’s gonna consult with some doctors for this surgery he’s thinking about, then he’s going back to California to meet with his TV network.”

“Sounds like exciting stuff.”

“Yeah.” Mabel poked the waffle. “He likes to move around a lot.”

“You don’t seem too happy about it.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. You seem… glum.”

“Mm.” Mabel sat her fork down. “Gideon, do you ever have bad dreams?”

“Sure.” Gideon frowned. “Let’s see. I had this one nightmare once about a _really_ big hamster. Sometimes I have this one that I can’t stop dancing, _that_ one sure is scary, and there’s this one I can never remember where I think I’m drag racing with my prison friends, except there’s this weird magic bubbles, and sometimes some people from around town are there, and like, the bubbles are wormholes or something? That one’s _really_ weird. Then I used to have this one about Dipper, but my old therapist said- well, never mind. I also sometimes dream about chocolate pudding pie. You ever had chocolate pudding pie?”

Mabel nodded. “I made it once.”

“I dreamt I had a chocolate pudding pie bed once. That wasn’t so bad, except it ruined my hair. Why’d you ask?”

Mabel shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been having these bad dreams for like, my last _life_ or something, but they got really bad this year. And they got really _really_ bad when I came here. They stopped for awhile, but now it’s all- _ungh,_ whatever. Never mind. Anyway, I might be leaving soon, so I wanted to let you know.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, I’ll still kind of be around, probably. I just might really need to leave Gravity Falls. I don’t really want to, but… yeah. It’s not a good place for me right now. Except it is? I don’t know. Actually, can I ask a really important question?”

“Of course, anything.”

“I was wondering if there was a room I could use to summon a demon.”

Gideon blinked. Mabel realized he’d been reaching toward her. His _hand_ had been moving towards _hers_.

“Um, course,” he said. “There’s my attic.”

“Great. Can you take my backpack up while I shower? Can I use your shower?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Mabel rinsed off and washed her hair in the shower, and basked in the water for nearly an hour. She felt a little bad about using probably all of their hot water, but didn’t manage to stop. She didn’t have any makeup for anything, but she dried and brushed her hair, pulled her clothes back on, and met Gideon outside.

“Lead the way, sir,” she said. Gideon nodded and she followed him up another flight of stairs and into the attic. It was dimly lit, even with the lights on. Mabel crossed over to the window. “Wowza, it really _is_ gloomy out there. I hope it does rain! So, do you have chalk?”

“I’ll check my library.” Gideon sat down her backpack. Mabel pulled out her folders and book, and in a moment, Gideon was back with several books of his own, and a box. “These are some old supplies of mine. I keep them locked up ‘cause technically I’m not allowed to have them. Speaking of which, you don’t think you’ll get caught? I have some strict _rules_ pertaining to-”

Mabel shook her head. “Trust me, no one will think you had anything to do with it, and I won’t get caught either. By the way, do you have any stuff from your old journal?”

Gideon shifted his weight uneasily, then set his box down. He pulled out some candles and chalk, followed by a few pages. “I do have these old ones-”

Mabel snatched the pages and quickly found the one describing Bill Cipher. She grabbed one about some possession spell that sounded familiar, and hid it under that. “Could I borrow these?”

“Course. Say, Mabel, are you sure this is a good idea?”

Mabel nodded, sorting through his books. “All ideas are good ideas. Alright, this one looks good. Now, can you keep watch for me?”

“Uh… sure.” Gideon stood up and backed out, looking at Mabel’s books nervously. “What am I keeping watch for?”

“No one can come in. _No_ one, okay? Also, maybe get me some apple juice, or some tortilla chips?”

“You... want me to go shopping?”

“Yes! Also, Pitt cola, and, _ooh,_ get frosted flakes!”

Gideon nodded. “Sure, okay. I’ll be back in a jiffy. You can lock this door from the inside, by the way, so-”

“Thanks!”

Mabel locked it after he was gone, then pulled out Gideon’s page on Bill Cipher. She also removed the ones from her old folder. There were some variants in the order of the Zodiac, but Gideon’s summoning spell seemed to be a constant. She grabbed the yellow chalk and started to draw it out, and pocketed the page with the chant before she lit the candles. Mabel leaned back against the wall with one of the books until Gideon knocked on the door. She jumped up to let him in.

“I got the stuff,” he said, staggering in. He had two heavy bags.

“Wow, you got everything! Thanks Gideon!” Mabel took the snacks and dumped them on his desk. “Do you have any post it notes?”

“... Sure.” Gideon hurried out to get her some. Mabel took them as soon as he was back. “Why post-it notes? Can I ask?”

“I’d rather you didn’t. I think that’s all I need, so you can go now.”

Gideon blinked. Mabel put her hand on his shoulder.

“Gideon, you’re a good friend to me. But this isn’t a friendly moment. At this moment, I’m not thinking about you as a friend.”

“You’re not?” he asked hopefully.

Mabel pulled her hand back. “I’m thinking of you as a business buddy. Not a buddy buddy. Like a friend from work, or something.”

“Oh.”

Oh, _god_. He looked crushed. Mabel hated this. Didn’t he get that she couldn’t do this right now?

Mabel sucked in a breath. “Gideon, please. Trust me on this. This is one of those get-out-while-you-still-can moments, you know? So, get out while you still can.”

“This is _my_ house, hon.”

“You know what I mean! Go downstairs or something.”

“And pretend  you’re not up here? I can’t just- _Dammit,_ Mabel, you’re _my_ _friend_! You’re my-”

“Don’t say marshmallow.”

“ _Marshmallow!_ ” Gideon stomped his foot.

“ _Don’t call me marshmallow!”_

“What’s gotten _into_ you?! You’re acting-”

Mabel folded her arms. “How am I acting, Gideon?”

Gideon glared at her. “You’re not acting like _my_ Mabel! The Mabel I like!”

Mabel narrowed her eyes. “Gideon, I am having a _serious_ problem right now, and I don’t have the time to argue with someone about _me!_ ”

 _“_ I just- I want to stay! I want to help!”

“That’s _not_ what you said. You’re making this about you!”

“I am not!”

“It’s always about you! You always need me to be super _happy_ and _cheerful_ and _affectionate_ and to _always pay attention to you!_ ”

“I do _not!”_

“Au contraire!”

“You don’t even speak French!” Gideon put his hands on his hips. “I don’t understand what’s going on, Mabel! I want to-”

“You always want _more!_ _You’re_ always the one who wants _more_ time, want to hang out, want to come over, _please please please!_ Oh, hang out with me, Mabel! Just _one_ date, Mabel! _Please_ more dates, Mabel! Be my _queen_ Mabel!” Gideon started to turn red. “ _Only_ me, Mabel! _Me me me,_ Mabel! _Me-_ ”

“Mabel Pines, you-”

“I can’t _do this right now_!” she screamed. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Gideon opened his mouth and closed it. He moved suddenly, as if he were about to start towards her, and then he fell back, bobbing his head up down.

“Alright,” he said. “Alright, I will.”

“Thank you.”

Mabel turned away as he opened the door. There was a long pause as he stood there.

“Good luck,” he said, and left.

Mabel sighed and looked over at her circle. Gideon had been right: she _was_ feeling glum. She’d slept for a heck of a long time, but she felt like she’d need to sleep for a year before she felt better. Actually…

She closed her eyes tight, and tried to meditate. No, she was still too tired. Dammit. The entire point of coming to Gideon’s had originally been, among other things, to catch up on sleep. She wasn’t sure where the demon-summoning idea had come in. Probably sometime while she was sleeping. It had just sort of been in bed with her when she woke up. Like a stuffed animal. She wished she had a stuffed animal right now.

She found an old Lil’ Gideon brand pencil in the desk, and carefully wrote out several sticky notes, then divided some of the papers and books up and labelled them. Mostly, which were hers and should be left in a nice box on the Shack’s doorstep, where they would either be found by Ford or forgotten, which should be given to Dipper, and which stuff was Gideon’s. She wasn’t sure what Gideon would find or what he would do with it, but hopefully Mabel was important enough to him that he’d actually obey her final wishes.

Mabel’s plan was actually pretty simple. She didn’t want to deal with anything that was going on anymore, so she wasn’t going to deal with. Was this decision a terrible one? Obviously. But she didn’t have the strength to even _think_ about fighting with Tony. His very existence and possible proximity had been enough to keep her awake for like, a _week_. She was not going to last long this way- she hadn’t last time. This had been her first full night’s sleep in what felt like ages and she still wasn’t feeling that great. And she’d only been able to sleep with _Gideon_ there. That was kind of fucked up, in her opinion. She’d needed someone who wouldn’t tell Dipper where she was, but in hindsight, Mabel realized she’d also probably thought that Gideon would use his every drop of strength to make sure she didn’t move. Was that sweet? Maybe. But with his history, it was also kind of creepy.

She sighed again. Her life was fucked up, when she thought about it. What a drag.

A pattering sound started outside. Mabel got up and opened Gideon’s curtains, but it didn’t help the lighting any. Bud had been right about the rain. She watched it for a little while- Mabel had always liked the rain, especially in the summer. She’d always liked umbrellas and plasticky coats and hats, and boots and galoshes and jumping in puddles. She liked them still. She liked the way rain grew stronger and softer, and she liked watching the drops that got caught on the window. She liked how quick it could come and go.

Mabel stopped watching the rain and picked up the Stan folder. She flipped to the back and found some of the third journal’s pages, the ones Dipper had written. He’d written about trusting her.

Mabel clutched them to her chest and started to cry.

She didn’t know how long she cried, only that it started soft and got stronger, then it got softer again, and stronger again. She thought about Dipper and about Ford and Stan and Soos and Wendy and Pacifica and Gideon and Candy and Grenda and Melody and Robbie and Tambry and Bud and Toby and Tyler and Tad and Shandra and Sue and _everyoneeveryoneeveryone Tony_ and _Dipper and Stan and Ford and_ finally she stopped.

The first time she remembered it raining in Gravity Falls was the day she met Bill Cipher. She wondered if this rain was a coincidence. It was all kind of _funny._ Gideon had summoned Bill Cipher to steal her house. Now she was in Gideon’s house, about to summon Bill Cipher.

Mabel wiped her tears and snot from her face, and got out her phone. It was almost three. Her plans were out to a slow start.

A few of her candles had gone out. She relit them carefully, and set out the array of snacks she’d had Gideon get her. Then she took out her only unsorted page- the chant to summon Bill, and looked at it. She recognized Ford’s writing.

There he was, praising Bill, saying how trustworthy he was, and Mabel wondered how badly it had hurt when when he found out what the truth was. Pretty bad, probably. But Mabel already knew the truth. Mabel tried not to think about it being Ford, writing about how great Bill was, and felt a little bit better. When Gideon had done this, if she remembered right, he’d had some picture of Stan with his eyes crossed out. Well, Mabel didn’t have that. She read through the chant once, then whispered it to herself, then moved to stand in the center of the circle.

 _Something’s missing…_ Mabel reached into her pocket, and pulled out the cheap plastic hairclip Dipper had given her. She put it on, and felt a little better.

She started to read.

 _“Triangulum, entangulum,”_ she said quietly, her voice steadily rising. _“Meteforis dominus ventium. Meteforis venetisarium!"_

The world around her went gray. Mabel’s eyes felt strange. It felt like there was something growing inside of her and-

 _And she was still speaking,_ but she couldn’t feel her mouth moving _,_ she could hear her voice _but she couldn’t feel her mouth moving_ and

Someone was _laughing_ and

There was an _eye_

And now there was a _shape_

And there was laughter

And fire

And

Laughter

Laughter

Laughter

And

* * *

 

_Dark with a sense of coming doom_

_Oh, what a beautiful day to try to die_

_Oh, for one sweet second without the eye…_

_-        “The Five Ghosts” Stars_

* * *

Mabel opened her eyes to see Bill high above her, adjusting his hat, and yelped.

“Did I pass out? Did I fall asleep? Oh my gosh, I’m so-”

“Nonono!” Bill waved his hands frantically, his cane waiting patiently next to him. In the air. Of course. “That’s normal! That’s a normal summoning thing. You’re doing great, kid. Except, yeesh. How long’s it been?”

“I dunno. Not too long.” Mabel shook her head. “That’s not important.”

“Not too long? Well well well.” Bill leaned against- nothing. Mabel got a feeling this would get old fast. “You just missed me? Admit it!”

Mabel rolled her eyes. “That’s not important either.”

“Ain’t it, though? Not that I’m not _thrilled_ to see you. You told me I was supposed to leave you alone. Wasn’t that our deal?”

“It still is _._ ”

“So how are you, kid?”

“I’m fine, you?”

“Me? I’m all fine and dandy, except I get the feeling I’m being lied too. Bag check for your eyes, am I right?”

Mabel shrugged. “You’re probably right.”

“Yeesh, you _are_ in a bad mood.” Bill floated downward a bit, getting closer to her. “What’s up? I’m doing good. I’ve been drifting around, taking naps, had a few spooky dreams. But anyway-”

Mabel cut him off. “The energy presence that entered Gravity Falls. What can you tell me about it?”

Bill looked at her. “The energy?”

“The last time I saw you, you said an… _energy_ had entered Gravity Falls. You said it was massive.”

“Oh yeah!” Bill spun his cane. “Not _massive_ massive. I’ve seen worse. I _am_ worse. It popped in sometime after your brother showed up. Moved around a _lot._ ”

“Did it ever come to the Shack?”

“Did it!”

“Did you ever think maybe you should tell me?”

Bill was either blinking or winking. Mabel really hated it when he did closed his eye. She never knew _what_ he was trying to do. “Pal, buddy, _kid,_ I don’t _tell_ people things. I don’t _warn._ Kind of how I work. That said, I’ve got a soft spot for you, so I gave you to the tools to figure it out.”

Mabel took a step back, her head spinning. “What? You did?”

 _“Did_ I!” Bill reclined back on the air, folding his hands behind his back. “I sent you looking, didn’t I? Gave you all the tools, right? Find your salamanders and snakes on your own, if you know what I’m saying.”

Mabel blinked.

“Oh. _Oh.”_

“What are friends for?”

Oh _man._

“Why d’ya ask?” Bill straightened. “Why am I here? How _much_ are you missing me? I mean, I’m great, right? Hard to deal without me around, that’s okay. Understandable, really. Go on, you can tell me!”

“You’re not here because I miss you,” Mabel snapped. “That’s dumb.”

“No? Well, okay then.” Bill fixed his tie. “Then why do you have lunch?”

“That’s, like, an offering to you.”

“An _offering?_ What am I, a god? Ooh. I like that.”

“I want to make a deal with you,” Mabel told him. “It’s important to me.”

“Well, I should hope so.” Bill crossed his legs. “Alright, spill the beans.”

Mabel sat down. “I don’t even know where to start. I guess I’ll just- wow, this is really weird. I- I want you to possess me.”

Bill blinked.

“Are we clear?”

Bill blinked again. “Nope, I’m not understanding.”

“I want you to go into my head and you can live there or whatever.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Uh, _noo._ You want me to possess you? I don’t even want to inhabit someone right now. I’ve got a good few decades left before I can even start scheming. I’m still on break. And more importantly, why do _you_ want to be a vessel?”

Mabel chewed her cheek. “It’s… it’s a little complicated.”

“You can tell me.”

“Bill, _please_.”

“I’m definitely not gonna do it if I don’t know _why._ ”

“It’s _really_ complicated. I do know the energy form you told me about. It came here for _me_ and it’s going to keep coming for me for forever.”

“Ooh, bummer.”

“I just can’t do that. You haven’t seen me this week. I got a full sleep just last night for the first time in days. That’s really bad, Bill, people need to sleep. I’m so off kilter that I can’t even meditate. It’s messing with my head.”

“So why don’t you just sleep?”

“I can’t just sleep! I’m _freaking out._ ”

“You don’t seem freaked out.”

“I’m calmer right now. I’ve been kinda laid back today, I guess. I mean, I haven’t cried a lot. I’m not crying now. This is actually almost a decent day.”

Bill narrowed his eye. “I’m still not understanding.”

“ _Please_ Bill. Please. I just need to take a break. I need a really long break from everything that’s going on right now.”

“So I’m a way out?”

Mabel’s throat began to swell. “Bill.”

“ _Oho,_ there’s the crying. There it is.”

“Please. I can’t do this any more. It’s so hard, Bill. It’s really hard. You don’t know what it’s like to be _me_ right now. My whole life is falling apart! It’s getting ripped away. It’s literally being _taken_ away from me and I can’t do anything about it! It _sucks!_ And the worst part is, I’m too scared to do anything! I can’t do this again! I’m _stuck._ Like you! Except I’m not _stuck._ I just- I can’t move forward like this. I can’t keep going. If I have to keep going like this- I don’t know what’ll happen to me. I don’t know what I’ll do! You _have_ to help me.”

Bill uncrossed his legs. “Alright, you’ve got my interest, and not just cause you’re crying. Also, I’m looking around, and _nice_ detail on the circle. You haven’t even moved. Really impressive.”

Mabel wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Thanks.”

“You’re going to have to expand on what you want me to do.”

“You can do whatever you want,” Mabel said. “Just stick to our old deal.”

“Are you giving me a time frame?”

“You can’t randomly stop possessing me without checking in. I’ll fill you in on all the information on what’s going on and stuff _after_ you inhabit my body or whatever.”

“So I can stay as long as I want?”

Mabel bit her lip. “After this… thing is dealt with, you have… two months where you can stay. Like a moving out period, I guess?”

Bill rubbed his hands together. “Well, the more I think about it, the more things I could use a vessel for. You’ve got a phone I can use, right?”

“Yes!”

“So let’s get cracking.”

Mabel stood up and went to get them both apple juice. She tossed a box to Bill.

“Cheers.”

They clinked their juice boxes together. Mabel poked her straw into hers and drained the entire thing.

“So tell me how the possession thing works,” she said.

“We swap places. I get the body and you get to float around.” Bill stuck his straw through the side of his box. “Then you can find a vessel to possess or just keep floating around.”

“I think I’ll try floating,” she told him. “I can hang around to help you out as long as you need.” Mabel sat her box down.

“What are you waiting for, kid? Let’s do this.”

Mabel bit her lip and nodded. She moved back to the center of the circle.

“You sure you’re down for this?” Bill said. She nodded. “You’re ready?”

“I’m ready,” she said, and tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Handshake time?”

Bill extended arm, and fire appeared. “Handshake time.”

He stuck out his hand.

The room was silent. The rain was strong. She could see his shadow on the wall.

Mabel reached for his hand.

And he pulled.

* * *

 

_WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT W A I T_

_SOMETHING IS_

_WRONG wrong WRONG_

_HANG ON_

_WHAT_

_BUT I’M STILL_

_YOU’RE STILL_

_LET ME GO_

_YOU HAVE TO_

_GET OUT_

_HERE_

_WHAT IS_

_NOT RIGHT_

_TOO LOUD_

_GOING_

_ON_

_THIS IS_

_I HAVE TO_

_GET_

_OUT_

_WAIT_

_STAY_

_WAIT_

_WAIT_

_WAIT_

_WAIT_

_WAIT_

_WAIT_

_WAIT_

* * *

_ The bravest that I've ever been, was when I ran away from you _

_-_ _“Life Effect” Stars_  

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I'd have LOVED to have worked for 10000 years on that weird gideon bit... but yeah... there u go and yep... that other thing that happened... i'd have loved to have worked on that for 1 billion years...  
> 2\. so all we have left is a short epilogue that i've already written, so don't expect too much from chapter 23, and then the sequel! I've actually written a LOT of the sequel, have a title picked out, a playlist... i'm like, 16 chapters into it now? so i might just try to finish it and then do the edit-before-post thing, maybe even... have a posting schedule? also, after the epilogue, i'll tell you guys what gravity falls stuff you can expect to be posted in the meantime! i've got a heckton of one shots planned and crazy ideas!  
> 3\. I officially got into honors art so next year i can take full advantage of gr8 art supplies!!!  
> 4\. this summer I'll be doing a writing program for two weeks in july in the city (i'm sandwiched between a mountain and a beach for ultimate Isolation) offered by a pretty great program in the city, and also... I might do a Pixar internship sometime soon, if that works out. like... holy shit much?  
> 5\. OKAY SO this isn't gravity falls related but you guYS my theatre company just told us our pretty much official lineup for next year! AND I'VE GOT NEWS!  
> a. we're going to have ALL FEMALE DIRECTORS  
> b. the shows are gonna be Sense and Sensibility (my directing partner from this year is gonna be in it, and my sick pal aussi), Beowulf (NICE), The Prince and the Pauper (I SCREAM), a full-length improv show, Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's Garden and Jemimah Puddleduck (which will be an all women show, my gf and some other rockstars are gonna be in it!), and A Winter's Tale.  
> c. I'm going to be master electrician on the prince and the pauper, which i'm so excited for, because it's a bit like being a tech director (my favorite job ever that i did this year after i abandoned costume design and let all my friends pull my weight and scream) except for LIGHTS so i get to go on the GRID which is essentially a GIANT TAUNT WIRE HAMMOCK ABOVE THE STAGE WE HANG LIGHTS FROM i mean HOW SICK IS THAT  
> d. the show i'm acting in is Winter's Tale by Shakespeare- which is his play with the most women!!!!! ahhh!!!! yes!
> 
> possible titles for the sequel:  
> Did You See the Closing Window? Did You Hear the Slamming Door?  
> The Moment it Takes to Fall Apart  
> The Night Starts Here  
> The Upwards Fall  
> But I’ll Turn My Face Away  
> They Make Me Feel I’m Falling Down (this is most likely)  
> When There’s Nothing Left to Burn
> 
> Thank you all so so much for reading this. This just started off as a glimmer of an idea last year, after Vs. the Future, and I can't believe it grew so much. This fic has kept me going and feeling good about myself. This has been a really weird semester. I didn't know where I'd be after Gravity Falls ended, but I'm actually in a nice place right now, and I owe that so much to working on this story and having such wonderful, kind readers. I don't know what I did to deserve you guys, thank you so much.  
> also here's a gravity falls cliche, to go with the story and express my emotions to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcunREYzNY  
> see you next summer (this summer) (so not really)


	23. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so actually this is a double update (WOWZA!) and i'm going to pass on the facts about what to look for in the future so the ending can haunt u and stuff.  
> a. i've actually decided to tackle a series of reverse fall oneshots, because i have a lot of really complex reverse falls headcanons, theories, plotlines, characterizations and most of them aren't especially common. i've written one so far and have the beginnings for two others. they will be published out of chronological order so i can publish them faster and write them as i see fit, so you can probably expect the first one soon!  
> b. i just had the beginnings of an idea for some sort of modern au, bill would be human and an asshole, dipper gets kidnapped by the Villains™, mabel learns about dipper's secret mystery solving x files type life, which bill is somehow involved in, has to find him? it would probably have no ships.  
> c. weird high school au where bill doesn't do anything and is probably a stoner and somehow mabel who tries hard but still performs poorly in school becomes his friend after giving him a tour and he's mean to her all the time then feels really guilty? i probably never going to write that actually, that's literally all i have  
> d. dystopia au?  
> e. another au i don't want to say a lot about because i actually probably will write it. Also not shippy, none of these are shippy, dipper is skeptical of religion and the supernatural, he and mabel investigate odd happenings, the town is very superstitious, gideon is a villain, pacifica is a widow, bill cipher lives in the woods and wears weird clothes, ford and stan are isolated and angsty and ford is a bitter old man (i weep) and also history, that's all i'll say.  
> f. stan twins oneshots! you guys barely got any here.  
> g. ghostbusters type au, bill's like a demon or something.  
> h. possibly some deleted scenes from this.  
> i. sad oneshots about the twins growing apart  
> hit up my tumblr (in my profile) to say "yes pls" to any of these or ask me about this story
> 
> also i forgot in my last notes but my history class gave end of year awards and i got most likely to start a bestselling lgbtq+ magazine so really nice  
> tomorrow is my last day of school also  
> ok that's it  
> l8er my pals

_I just let go your hand_

_I hope I can go through with this_

_I hope you understand_

_-        “The Vanishing” Stars_

* * *

 

Dipper did his best to keep his eyes on the road. It was easier than thinking.

But he _couldn’t_ stop thinking. He couldn’t stop thinking about the bad things. And that wasn’t responsible driving. And it was _so_ hard to be a responsible driver when every single part of his body was screaming at him to _go back go back go back!_

He’d left Mabel.

He’d left Mabel alone.

Well, she had Ford. And her friends. But her friends were Pacifica and _Gideon_. Paz was fine, she was his friend too, but she couldn’t handle Tony. She’d take care of Mabel as best she could, but she couldn’t do that for long. And Gideon was _Gideon._ He’d grown up into a decent guy, and he’d been a decent guy before, but Dipper would never trust him with his sister’s well-being. Wendy was there, at least. And she could use an axe.

Still, it would have made Dipper feel a lot better to check in with Mabel before he left. He wanted to know what her plan was. Hopefully it was to leave soon. She’d said that she was thinking about it.

That didn’t make him feel any better.

_Go back!_

Honestly, he was feeling a little nauseous.

_Go back_

Dipper pulled Lisa over, thinking he might throw up, but that wasn’t the case. He sighed, massaged his temples, pressed his thumbs over his eyes to wake himself back up, and kept going.

_Go back go back go back_

He felt such a sense of _dread._ This was nothing new, not when it came to Tony and certainly not when it came to leaving Mabel, but it felt so _bad._ It was unshakable. And his ears were ringing, too.

And his phone. His phone was ringing.

Dipper glanced at the road, then grabbed his phone. It was just Gideon. Probably calling to tell him he’d found Mabel. But if it was Gideon, that meant Mabel didn’t want to talk to him. He could accept that. He wouldn’t want to talk to himself either.

Dipper dropped the phone and looked back at the road, just in time for a turn. There was a sour taste in his mouth. And the dark cloud over him was so _big._ It wasn’t going to go away, no matter how many times he played his Babba CD. Dipper reached up to eject the CD and plugged in his aux cord instead. His pop playlist wasn’t helping either. Plus, his chest felt weird. What was that all about?

 _This is such a bad time to consult for surgery,_ Dipper thought, for the thousandth time. The idea had entered as a way of drawing attention. If he was preparing for or recovering from surgery, he’d be the obvious target. But he was about to start work with the network on his next season, plus, _Tony._ It just _didn’t_ feel like the right time. He wanted the surgery, yeah, but the idea of it was making him feel even worse. _But it’ll just be a consultation,_ he reminded himself. _I’m just gonna learn about all the risks and procedure and see if I can get some more facts on it._

It certainly didn’t help that he kept thinking about Bill. Why had Mabel assumed he was talking about Bill? Why would she think that?

He just felt like he needed to-

_Go back go back go back_

Dipper pulled over and got out of the car, then bent over. Nope, he still wasn’t throwing up.

He got back in the car. Gideon was calling him again. Dipper turned his ringer off.

_Go back go back go back._

He buckled on his seatbelt and glanced in the rearview mirror. He could feel Gravity Falls behind him, even though it was already miles away. All he had to do was get to the airport and then he’d be too far along to turn around.

His head said: _go back._

His stomach said: _go back._

His heart said: _go back._

His hands were shaking and his neck felt sore.

His tongue felt thick, and his mouth felt wet even though his throat was burning.

His eyes felt dry and weak.

_Go back go back._

Dipper tapped his fingers against his steering wheel and thought about the marks that had been left on Lisa.

_Go back._

_Go back._

He forced his hands to stay steady. He floored the gas and kept going.

 _Go back,_ he thought. _I want to go back, I should go back. I just have to turn around._

_No. I just have to keep driving. I have to keep going forward._

Dipper yawned. And drove forward.

* * *

 

_Did you see the closing window?_

_Did you hear the slamming door?_

_They moved forward, my heart died_

_They moved forward, my heart died_

_-        “Dead Hearts” Stars_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think i'll be starting an official tag for this on my blog, if i haven't yet, for concept art, music, extra content, etc. that'll probably be harlecat.tumblr.com/tagged/tmfstuff , I already reblog art and posts that remind me of this fic to tmf, so go to that tag if you're interested, you might risk spoilers. 
> 
> thank you all so, so much for reading. have a great night, and happy summer!


	24. Teaser: Head Trauma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey all! i know i said i was gonna hold off on posting the sequel but... it's actually... really close to completion? so it's going to start updating very, VERY soon! i wanted to share some of it with those of you who are interested so here is a short little mess from an early chapter. it's highly abridged to make it briefer and less spoiler-y, and the chapter itself is still subject to editing! also, dr. chiu is not candy, just so you know!

He headed out. At least he knew Tony _was_ back. And Bill, too. He felt sick to his stomach, but he was currently totally updated on where everyone was and where they were going. More or less.

He started toward Dr. Chiu’s office. She looked up when he opened the door.

“There you are. Sooner than expected.” She sat aside her folder. “Have a seat.”

Dipper sat down, feeling a little dizzy. “Thanks.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Sure, you?”

“Fine. No vomiting, headaches, dizziness?”

“All of the above, actually. I had to throw up before I came here.”

“Well, you don’t sound alright to me. Honestly, Dipper, I’m already certainly that you are almost definitely concussed.”

Dipper nodded. “So, rest up, relax?”

“Yes. Just take it easy.”

Dipper grinned. “Trust me,” he lied. “I’ve got no plans to do anything else.”

* * *

 Wendy and Soos has ushered Dipper out and told him to sleep, but he was outlining the next season of his show with his phone in the cafeteria. He'd just thought up a really funny episode title when Gideon called.

“Hey,” he answered.

_“Dipper, it's me, Gideon. I just got up for a snack and I saw that you called. Is Mabel okay?”_

“Yeah,” Dipper said. “No, actually. Honestly, things are kind of bad. Can you and Pacifica maybe meet me at the hospital at nine?”

_“I'll call her right now! I'll be right there.”_

“Sure,” Dipper said. It was five in morning.

“Dude.” Dipper turned at Wendy’s voice, setting down his phone. “No sleep for you? Fine, I'll get us some coffee.” She breezed past him and to the counter. A moment later, she sat down two black coffees.

Dipper couldn't stomach black coffee.

“Any updates?” he asked.

“Mabel-Bill is still out. No movement all night. I think I'll have to clock out soon, my shift today starts at seven and I might need to go home and change. Will you be good here? And dude, will you sleep?”

He nodded. “Paz and Gideon should be here to help.”

“Ain't that dandy. Alright, stud, since you've got things covered I'll head back to my place.” She took his hand. “And Dipper, Mabel will be _fine._ This will all work out. Just call me when you need me again, I'll be here ASAP. And take care of yourself!”

Wendy stood up, leaving her coffee on the table. Dipper rubbed his eyes and pulled up Mabel’s backpack. She'd had some of his books on her when Bill possessed her, and some of Ford’s, but even stranger, she had a thick folder he'd never seen before. It was labeled _PRIVATE PROPERTY OF STAN PINES. DO NOT TOUCH. THIS MEANS YOU, PAL_ so Dipper could probably guess who the original owner was. He opened it. Just some Polaroid photos, the rest was just papers, probably stuff about tax evasion or revenue. He couldn't take his eyes off the photographs. One was of the portal- Stan had written Day Zero, and had blueprints for the portal. Why did Mabel have this? Why did _Bill_ have this?

The other file was one he recognized. Ford had shown it to him when he was like, twelve. Dipper flicked through it, but found nothing new, so he opened Stan’s folder again.

“Dipper!”

Dipper looked up. Pacifica, in slippers, pajamas, and near perfect makeup, was running towards him. Gideon was jogging behind her, looking… short. He closed the file and waved.

Pacifica went to get them more coffee while Gideon sat down.

Dipper slid the Cipher file to them. “Problem number two is Bill. He's a reality-bending demon whose powers are mostly based in your Mindscape and dreams, but he's always looking to expand. His end goal is the end of the world. Or I guess the world as we know it.”

“Hey!” Pacifica held up a diagram of the Zodiac. “Isn't he the guy from your tattoo?”

“... No.”

Dipper snatched the diagram. “Gideon, you have a tattoo of Bill?”

“... No?”

“If that's problem two, what's problem one?” Pacifica asked.

“Tony.” Dipper picked up his phone and found a picture of him. “Mabel's ex. Normally he looks like this but we think he can shapeshift. The biggest immediate problem right now is that he has the paper with the chant to follow Bill into the Mindscape. Gideon. Did you see it?”

Gideon began to pick at his nail. “I saw it, but I couldn't tell you what it said. I hardly read it. Gosh, I haven't looked at that page since-”

He sighed. “I didn't think so.” Dipper lifted up Mabel’s backpack and poured some of the books in it onto the table. “Guess we better start looking through these.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((also i just got back from vacation, i went to provincetown and it is the most lgbt+ friendly town ever? like, i genuinely felt like it was the norm to be gay there, every restaurant had mainly gay couples, i met so many queer folks, and so many houses had pride flags ?!?!?! i even saw an aro flag at one place!!!! i was in love love!))
> 
> I'm going to aim to start posting the sequel next week... ;) It looks like the title is going to be They Make Me Feel I'm Falling Down because, while I dug a lot of the others, it's super plot relevant. My trip really inspired me to write so I've also tackled some original projects and new ficlets and one shots as well! You might be able to expect weekly updates for a long time.
> 
> see y'all real soon!

**Author's Note:**

> I was really inspired to write this after I saw someone online mention that when Stanford motioned to Dipper's contributions to the journals, he pointed out the leaf blower, which had been Mabel's idea. That probably won't come into play a lot, but it got me pumped to write, so... woohoo! If I keep procrastinating my schoolwork, chapter two should come out this week, haha!


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